


blu's Tadelsa Collection

by blunaowl



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Frozen (2013)
Genre: Angst, Flirting, Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-03-11 03:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 36,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3312218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blunaowl/pseuds/blunaowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A compilation of my one-shots for the ever growing library aboard the Tadelsa ship, originally posted on tumblr, and in no particular order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Latest Calibration Scan

Tadashi heads back to the lab ten minutes later, elusive tool in hand ( _I swear, I had it just a second ago…_ ), a triumphant grin on his face, which slowly morphs into a frown when he sees Fred, Wasabi, Honey, GoGo and Hiro squeezed into the doorway.

"Guys? Why’re y-"

He peers over Honey’s shoulder and sees Elsa stood with her back against the work bench, Baymax stood about two feet in front of her, head covered in… _is that coffee spray?_

He pushes through the small mob at the door and walks over to his wife and lab partner. “Elsa..? Itoshii, what’s going on?”

… she tries to respond. But she can’t. Instead she just stands there with the rest of her coffee dripping from her mug onto her shoe and an incredulous look on her face, staring at the robot. Slowly, Tadashi turns. “Baymax?”

"I merely relayed the findings of my latest calibration test scan to Elsa."

A throat clears in the doorway and Fred leans forward slightly. Looking at the door, Tadashi can now clearly see the mixture of stupid grins and smug faces looking at the trio.

"What he actually said was,” Fred pauses for a second, holding his finger up in the air and bouncing slightly on his toes. “‘Low blood pressure, increased levels of progesterone, appetite and fatigue. Diagnosis: Pregnancy.’”

There’s a small yelp as a coffee cup flies through the air and barely misses Fred’s head, the last dregs deposited onto the lab floor.

"Mood swings are often indicati-"

That evening, it takes Hiro ten minutes to retrieve the tool from Baymax’s arm.


	2. Gravity

`[self@baymax] /home/self $ alarm -t “00:20:00” “nap”`

Gravity is an interesting topic.

Unable to be seen, felt, or scanned, it affects a great many things, humans, animals - though cats appear somewhat resistant - and objects. I have also noticed that the more expensive or delicate an object, the greater the affect of gravity upon it.

I do not enjoy the absence of gravity.

…

`$ notes.sh "Download information re: Gravity"`

Interactions with objects are usually accompanied by outbursts from nearby humans, some of pain, others of frustration. I find I am activated more frequently in the lab than in any other location.

Tadashi has instructed me not to download information on “Swearing”.

Animal interactions with gravity most often occur outside the lab. Mochi appears to be almost completely resistant. Some of the motions Mochi undertakes would appear to be quite impossible, however he completes them with ease. Hiro once explained that if Mochi were to leap from a seventh-storey window, he would land “paws down”.

I am unwilling to test this theory.

Human interactions with gravity are certainly the most perplexing, and I have noticed that certain humans appear to be more resistant that others.

`$ play /var/memories/observations/humans/gravity.mp7`

GoGo appears to have the greatest resistance, which seems to be an advantage when working with high velocities. Wasabi’s dense construction appears to provide additional resistance, having had many others make forceful contact with him, after which he appears unfazed and unmoved.

Tadashi and Honey would appear to be the mean. Hiro’s resistance to gravity appears directly related to the amount of sugary substances he has consumed.

I find I am activated most frequently when Anna is present within the lab. Fred’s resistance also seems to fall when Anna is present. When Kristoff is also present, the affect of gravity upon Anna increases exponentially. I have taken it upon myself to remain active during these visits, in order to ensure a prompt response to any medical matters.

I have discovered that tiredness also appears to alter the effects of gravity upon a human. There are far more incidents at the end of the day than during the afternoon. At least, in most of the humans.

`$ play /var/memories/family/Elsa/270318.mp7`

Tadashi has recently expressed concern about Elsa’s wellbeing, specifically her decreased energy levels, and has instructed me to remain active when he is not present in the lab, but to not reveal this fact to Elsa, lest she learn of his concerns. He states:

`$ cat /tadashi/quotes.txt | grep 20270813 | grep "permission" | cowsay -f mochi`

It would appear that his concern is warranted, as Elsa has fallen asleep whilst at her desk, however instead of adopting the “slumped forward” position favoured by most humans sleeping in the labs, she has chosen to position her elbow precariously close to the edge of the desk. I have therefore provided a safe resting place for Elsa, lest she fall off her lab stool. I do not believe it would precipitate the same levels of amusement as Anna or Hiro might in the same situation.

…

It would appear that Elsa is in agreement with Honey as to how “cuddly” I am, and as this has now rendered me immobile, I believe now would be an opportune time to begin my monthly calibrations.

`$ alarm Is`


	3. The Pout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a BH6 gif set, found at http://blunaowl.tumblr.com/post/109289181195

“Oh, come on Elsa.”

“Nope.”

“Please?”

“No, Tadashi.”

“ _Please?_ ”

“I said, n- don’t you dare. Don’t you  _dar-_ Tadashi! _”_

He was wearing The Pout. Elsa had first seen it in action against Hiro, several months after they had first met. Tadashi was using his brother as a test subject for Baymax, and The Pout had made his brother re-enter the lab with a sigh and sit still for two hours, whilst Baymax scanned him, and Tadashi adjusted the robot’s settings.

_Two hours._

It was a powerful tool to wield, and her husband dared use it on her.

Elsa raised an eyebrow, and had to restrain herself from smiling when she saw Tadashi flinch  _ever_  so slightly.

They were at a stalemate, stood in the middle of the street, husband and wife staring each other down. A few people walking past gave them curious looks, and Elsa was sure she heard a man’s voice quietly say, “I’d back down if I were him…”. Just as she thought she saw Tadashi begin to crumble, she felt a tug on her arm.

_Oh no._

Haruki had discovered The Pout at around age 3, and was becoming rather skilled in its implementation. “Aunty Anna” and “Uncie Kwistoff” were particularly susceptible, and the young boy often had them both wrapped around his tiny little finger.

And now he was looking up at her, with stunning blue eyes that no one thought would last more than six months, peering from under his tousled black hair. Wearing that  _damn_  pout.

“… this is unfair.”

“Please, mommy?”

“…”

“ _Please?_ ” She closed her eyes at the sound of her husband and son both pleading with her. It was pitiful.

But it was  _working_.

She sighed heavily, and pointed at Tadashi, eyes still closed. “ _You_  are responsible for it.” Her arm started jerking around as the toddler attached to the end of it began jumping and cheering.

“Of course, itoshii.” She could  _hear_  him grinning, and she refused to look at his smug face as Haruki pulled her towards the door to the shop. Tadashi followed, putting a hand on Elsa’s lower back and kissing her on the temple, before opening the door and walking in with her. Haruki ran ahead with a cheer, scaring a parrot on the counter.

“Fair warning, if  _this_  one learns your puppy dog eyes, I’m fleeing to Norway.” Tadashi covered the hand on her stomach with his own, “Don’t go, Baymax’s hugs are nowhere near as warm as yours,”. He tried pouting again, but he couldn’t quite manage it, a grin tugging at the side of his mouth, growing when Elsa slapped him on the chest.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy, look!” Haruki ran back over to them, tearing his mother’s hand from his fathers and pulling her along, “Look, mommy! He’s white and cuddly like Baymaz! Can we have that one,  _please?_ ”

* * *

The puppy’s name changed every hour for the rest of the day, until Tadashi managed to hold the two and four-legged bundles of energy still long enough to show Anna on a video call that evening.

“Aunty Anna! Aunty Anna,  _look!_ ”

“What is th- oh my  _gosh_ , KRISTOFF! COME HERE!” Haruki giggled at her Aunt, and at the wet nose that appeared on her lap, followed by a bark and the rest of Sven’s head. The puppy went wild, barking back at the screen, which made Haruki giggle even harder.

“Anna, what on Earth is going on, you’ll wake Sonja-”

“Look! Look, look, look, he’s so  _adorable!_ ”

“… you always say that about your nephew.” Even this far from the screen, Elsa could see Anna roll her eyes and she snorted. There was a pause as Kristoff was pulled closer to the screen, “… oh, man. You did the thing, didn’t you.”

Tadashi shrugged innocently, “I don’t know  _what_  you mean.” His head shrunk slightly into his shoulders as Elsa stood behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “He did the thing.”

“Woah, woah, wait. And you _gave in?_  I thought the eyebrow was unbeatable!” Kristoff gawped, kneeling down next to his wife’s chair, scratching Sven behind the ear.

“Yeah, well… he had help.” Haruki grinned and held his arms triumphantly in the air.

“Aunty and Uncie, we need a naaame. I wanted to call him Fluffy, but he’s not _really_  fluffy, he cuddly, but Cuddly’s a silly name, and then daddy said I couldn’t call him Baymaz, because Baymaz was already Baymaz and that would get confusing, and then I thought about Snowy, cos he’s all white and-”

“Olaf.”

Haruki immediately stopped his ramblings and frowned deeply, thinking hard about his Aunt’s suggestion. “Oh-waf.”

“O-laf,” Elsa corrected softly, looking at her sister, smiling warmly.

“Oh-laff… Oooolaf. Olaf! I like it. Because it rhymes with woof!” Sven made an approving noise in response. “Sven likes it! Olaf, you are now called… Olaf!”

Tadashi let the pair of fidgets down from his lap and watched as they ran to the living room, Haruki unpacking the puppy’s toys. He heard a sniff from behind him and his head snapped round to look at Elsa.

“Oooh, boy, Elsa, I’m sorry…” Anna cringed, biting her lip. “Eurgh, pregnancy hormones are the  _worst_ …” Tadashi pulled Elsa down to sit in his lap, rubbing her back,  _just_  catching Anna’s quiet explanation of the name’s origins to Kristoff.

Mumbling sweet nothings into Elsa’s ear, he heard Kristoff give a command to Sven, who bounded out of the screen with a bark… and then Anna started laughing.

“Ruff!” Sven rejoined his owners at the desk, stood at the table on his hind legs, his wet nose pushed almost right into the camera, before he pulled back slightly to reveal the squeaky carrot chew toy in his mouth.

Kristoff’s voice, though it wasn’t  _quite_  his voice, came through the speakers, “Hey Olaf, got your nose!”

Anna doubled over in hysterics. Elsa’s laughter rang throughout the house, prompting Haruki to come back mid-joke, and stand by his parents, looking confused. Kristoff pulled Sven away from the camera and took a quick bow, Tadashi gave him a thumbs up in response, grinning.

Anna excused herself as best she could, red faced and unable to breathe, to put her daughter back to bed. Kristoff signed off on her behalf, Sven barking a goodbye.

The first time they played Fetch with Olaf, Elsa was giggling too hard to participate.

* * *

Haruki - from the Japanese  _晴_ _(haru)_  ”clear up” or  _陽_ _(haru)_  ”sun, sunlight” combined with  _輝_ _(ki)_  ”radiance, shine” or  _生_ _(ki)_  ”life”.


	4. Vous Parlez Francais?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is influenced by a comment from Home (.tumblr.com/post/104395242684/tadashi-x-elsa-home), by weowned8000saladplates:
> 
> 6\. She speaks French, Norwegian, Swedish, and Mandarin fluently. Currently learning Japanese. Maybe I should offer to tutor her? Not that she needs it because she’s so smart…but still…

“Doop do doo… doop duh-doo….. doop do doo… doo duh-doo…. doop du-heey!”

“Singing along to the ringtone again?”

“What? It’s a good tune!” Tadashi couldn't keep a slightly embarrassed flush from his cheeks. “I can just  _hear_  Fred yelling ‘nerd’ at me.”

“You  _are_  a nerd, Tadashi. But you’re  _my_ nerd.” Elsa grinned at her… boyfriend? Partner? They hadn’t really decided on a label. They were just Tadashi & Elsa, Elsa & Tadashi.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, they had been inseparable for months. They had  _finally_  stopped beating around the bush, much to the delight of various family members and friends, and had started dating. The final straw had been when Tadashi’s robot, Baymax, after not fulling understanding what the lab students had been discussing, had downloaded information on relationships. The pair were having lunch along with Fred, GoGo, Hiro, Honey and Wasabi, in their usual corner in Aunt Cass’s café, when Baymax had – rather loudly – pointed out various physical and emotional ‘symptoms’ the pair were demonstrating on a regular basis, and that, in order to resolve the unrequited feelings of love, they should simply 'change their current relationship status from lab partners to sexual partners’.

Elsa had turned beetroot red midway through Baymax’s speech, pulling the hood of her sweater over her head, sinking lower and lower into her chair, until she very nearly slid off onto the floor. Tadashi had tried to force the robot to be silent, coming very close to ripping open the robot’s outer shell and removing his speech processor. Instead of damaging him, he eventually dragged Baymax from the café to the bedroom he shared with his brother, and holding him there until he had finished talking.

Elsa had fled the café in his absence, and Tadashi hadn't seen her for the entirety of the weekend. But, being a creature of habit, Tadashi had found her in the lab on Monday morning, long before anyone else was due to arrive. He had shut, but not locked his lab door behind him, in the hope that Elsa wouldn't try and escape again, and they had talked for what seemed like an eternity. The talking had stopped long before the others had arrived at the lab, and Tadashi had emerged from the lab briefly to grab some coffee, looking very flustered and wearing a ridiculous grin on his face.

“Itoshii?” Tadashi’s voice broke through her reverie, and Elsa brought her attention back to the screen, ”Hmm?”

“You zoned out again…” He leaned a little closer to the screen, causing the camera to refocus on his concerned frown.

“Sorry.” Elsa chuckled, “I just… I've missed you.” Tadashi seemed put at ease at the genuine smile she wearing and leaned back in his chair.

“I’ve missed you too. How’s everything going?” Tadashi watched curiously as Elsa seemed to rummage around on her desk for something, then laughed as she waved a white tissue in the air and pouted. “That bad, huh?”

“It’s just… I’m surrounded by balding old talking heads, none of whom seem to want to come to any agreements over anything. I’m sure if I asked what colour snow was, they’d have twelve answers. They just… _just…_ ” The young woman cringed, turning her nose up, her hands flexing and twitching slightly in front of her like she’d just been asked to put them in a bowl of something wholly unpleasant.

The picture made Tadashi laugh all the more. “You poor thing.”

“I’m just glad Anna’s here. Otherwise I think I might have frozen the entire board of directors yesterday just to liven things up.”

“If you do that, can I watch on webcam?”

She smirked, “I’ll make a no- oh no…”

A phone just outside of the picture had started to ring. Tadashi watched as Elsa leaned over slightly, looked at the caller ID and groaned, muttering something in Norwegian. She came back into view, “Tadashi, I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

“It’s okay, I’ll hold, Ms. Business Woman.” Tadashi grinned at the raised eyebrow, “Seriously though, go on, I don’t mind.”

“Are you su-”

“Yes..! Go, go!” Tadashi chuckled, leaning back in his chair and turning his attention to a different programme on his computer screen. He heard the sudden vacuum of silence from his speakers, indicating that Elsa had muted their video call.

There was silence in the lab; it was late, past midnight. Tadashi hadn't slept properly for the past two weeks, and had spent increasing amounts of time in his lab in order to take his mind off Elsa’s absence. They had tried to have more frequent video calls, but given the time difference, Elsa’s mind-numbingly dull board meetings and Tadashi’s lab work, they had only really been able to communicate by text message, an email here and there. It had been hard on the both of them, and they had both looked forward to seeing each other – even if it was through a small video window.

_Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right, ‘dashi? … not that I'm sure I can_ get _much more fond of the wom- … wait, what?_

There was a noise coming from his speakers again. A rather… exasperated noise – _no, not a noise. A voice. … no way._

Tadashi minimized his work and pulled up the video call again. Elsa had disappeared from the picture, but her voice –  _that’s_ definitely _her voice –_ was carrying right back to the microphone.

“Qu’est-ce vous fait qui pensez que je serais d’accord pour  _cela_?”

_Oyamaa._

Work forgotten, Tadashi watched – or rather listened – to Elsa’s half of the telephone conversation she was having. His knowledge of Norwegian was conversational at best nowadays – even with Elsa’s patient tutelage, Tadashi had found it difficult to master some of the pronunciations of even the simplest words, disregarding the whole ‘Æ, Ø, Å’ debacle. He knew from a debate about furniture that Elsa could speak Swedish, but had simply put that down to Sweden’s location in relation to her country of origin.

Tadashi had been eager to oblige when Elsa had asked him to teach her some Japanese, and despite her initial difficulty navigating the grammatical minefield, she was making slow but steady progress. He had been very impressed during their last conversation.

Not  _quite_  as impressed as he was at this moment.

His grasp of French was limited to what little he had bothered to try and remember from his classes during elementary school. Though he wasn’t able to speak very much, he was still able to understand some of what Elsa was saying over the phone, and what he couldn’t understand through her words, he could  _certainly_  understand by the tone of her voice.

…  _she is not a happy bunny._

It was several minutes before Tadashi heard the conversation coming to a close, followed by a frustrated noise and a smattering of Norwegian. He heard the click of the phone being replaced in the cradle, before Elsa entered stage left, pushing herself back into view on the swivel chair. Tadashi waited patiently, silently, giving the blonde time to collect her thoughts, before quietly making his presence known – he realised by the startled look on his face as he did so, that Elsa had been so caught up in the phone conversation she had forgotten he was still there.

“They say French is a passionate language, but…”

She closed her eyes, cheeks that were previously tinged pink with exertion flushed red with embarrassment and hung her head, braid almost touching her lap. She reached up to rub her temples, before Tadashi heard a slightly muffled, “… you heard.”

“Yep.”

“How much did you hear.”

“Enough to wonder  _just_  how fluent you are.” He flashed a cheeky grin, which only grew as Elsa looked up, eyebrow raised. “Wha-at? I’m merely suggesting that perhaps you might want to explore another type of passion the next time you break out into le français.”

Elsa’s eyebrow remained in place, but he spotted her small grin even as she brought her coffee mug up to hide it, and he decided to step it up a gear. “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce so- oh crap, sorry!” Tadashi peered into the camera, looking at the screen from various angles as if it might help him see Elsa coughing from her position off camera. It was only when he heard her laughing off-camera that he grinned again. “Where the hell did you hear  _that_?”

"Aunt Cass used to watch a film that had that in a song. I was young! I had a spongey mind, and they kept singing it!"

Elsa pulled herself back into shot, dabbing at the table with some tissues, chuckling and shaking her head, “Well, in response to your question: autant j’aimerais beaucoup, je ne peux pas. Désolés.”

"… what  _was_  my question? I understood ‘moi’, but the rest-“

"Tadashi?" Tadashi fell silent, looking at her expectantly. She leaned forward, elbows on the desk and looked up at the screen with a mischevious grin, before continuing in a sultry voice, "I’ll show you when I get back."

Tadashi swallowed hard and shifted in his chair. “But now… I’m afraid I have to go and deal with this.” She waved in the direction of the phone.

"So… just… just how fluent  _are_  you?”

Elsa merely grinned. “Au revoir, Tadashi. Faites de beaux rêves.”

Sweet dreams, indeed.


	5. Snowboarding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tadashi rekindles his love for snowboarding, and may have found a new one in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started out as a one-shot, but due to the feedback I received on tumblr, I'm continuing with it. I'm currently editing it again, but it'll be posted on here as it's own fic once I've sorted it out.

“And here’s the birthday boy!”

“Aunt Cass…”

“You could be  _forty_  one, and you’d still be the birthday boy. Now, get yourself down to the café.”

“… you’re not going to make me work today, are you?”

“Even  _I’m_  not that cruel. Go on! Downstairs!”

Aunt Cass shoved him to the top of the staircase by the kitchen. Deciding the Emergency Department would not be the best place to spend his 21st, he continued down the stairs unaided and walked out into the café that encompassed the ground floor of his home.

Sat at their usual seats were his friends from college, GoGo, Honey, Wasabi and Fred. A raucous cheer went up when they spotted Tadashi and they met him halfway, hugging him and wishing him a happy birthday.

It was only when Honey hugged him that he realised it wasn’t just Fred wearing a bizarre choice in summer outfit. He pulled back from the hug and looked her up and down, taking in the ridiculous number of layers she was wearing and frowning. “Honey… why are you dressed like it’s the middle of Winter?”

“Your surprise! Well… okay,  _this_  is not your surprise, but we need to wear this _for_  your surprise.”

“My surprise? Wh-” He looked past them and saw a rather large pile of bags and the snowboard that normally graced his bedroom wall, “…. wait a second…”

Hiro appeared at his side, wearing a toothy grin and a snow suit that was far too big for him. “We’re going skiing!”

“I overheard you talking with Hiro a few weeks ago,” Aunt Cass began, coming to a stop behind Hiro, her hands on his shoulders, a back pack by her side, “saying how much you enjoyed the family skiing trips when you were younger, and I thought it might be nice if you spent some time on the slope with Hiro now he’s old enough to remember. You were a good snowboarder!”

“’Were’?” Tadashi chuckled, “Gee, thanks Aunt Cass.” He got a light slap on the arm and raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Prove me wrong then!” His Aunt picked up his pack and passed it to him. “Come on, you’re booked in from 10am, I want to get going sooner rather than later.”

Pop. “Can we take this stuff off now? He’s filled in, I’m melting.” After groans of agreement from the others, they divested themselves of the snow gear and bundled it into their bags. After feeding the group a light breakfast and loading them down with snacks for later, Aunt Cass brought a small minibus to the front of the shop and once Wasabi and Fred (who had refused to remove his gear, which included the head of one of his mascot outfits) had loaded the gear into the back, they all piled in and headed off.

* * *

“Check this place out! It looks like real snow!” Hiro plastered his face to the window separating the entrance lobby to the side of the slope, watching as people flew past him. “This is _awesome_.”

“Agreed, little man. Agreed.” Fred clapped him on the shoulder, “This is going to be a  _good_  day.”

By the reception desk, Aunt Cass was talking over details with the receptionist, who directed them to a one of the small waiting areas just next to what appeared to be a room filled with snow gear, snowboards, skis, and various other things related to winter sports. Aunt Cass gave the two brothers a hug and left to get back to the café, with promise of retrieval when they had finished for the day.

“Hey guys, come on over!” A blond man, his shoulders broad enough to rival Wasabi’s, was stood near the entrance to the kit area, and he wandered over to them with a grin on his face. “I’m Kristoff, I’m going to make sure you all kitted up and cosy before you hit the slope.” They followed him to the waiting area, Tadashi and Hiro both lingering near the entrance to the kit area, gawking at the sheer variety of gear within.

“Now, I can see some of you already have your own gear which is  _great_. Those of you that don’t, we’ve got a huge variety of stuff to suit you, and whatever sport you’d like to try out while you’re here.”

Immediately, GoGo, Fred and Hiro blurted out, “Snowboarding,” with various degrees of excitement. Kristoff chuckled, “Noted. And the rest of you? You’ll all be together as a group, regardless of what you choose.”

It took a few minutes and a bit of careful consideration, but Wasabi and Honey both decided that they would snowboard as well, to try and make things easier. It didn’t take long before Kristoff discovered that the snowboard was Tadashi’s, and that they were there because of him.

“Well, happy birthday. Don’t worry; we won’t announce it to the rest of the slope. We find it can be a little distracting when everyone looks your way at the same time. Not to mention all the more embarrassing if you fall.” Kristoff cringed – there were clearly a few tales behind this particular policy.

It took about half an hour to make sure everyone was toasty enough to brave the cold – Hiro was given something to wear that didn’t make him look like an under-inflated marshmallow. Fred’s dinosaur head was given the all clear, the fact that he couldn’t pull it over his head didn’t dull his enthusiasm in the slightest, especially after he was given a green helmet to match. After checking Tadashi’s board to make sure it was safe to use, Kristoff fetched boards for everyone else, including a bright pink one for Honey. After she’d taken a selfie with the group and they had squared their belongings away, Kristoff tugged his beanie down over his ears and lead them to the entrance to the slope, trudging through the snow at the base of the slope.

“Elsa!”

About halfway along, two people, one dressed in blue gear, the other in green, were sat on the barrier separating spectators from the people bombing towards them. Kristoff called again, and both their heads turned in their direction, blonde and red braids flying over shoulders. The blonde woman hopped down from the wall into the snow, the red head turned and slid down into the spectator area.

“Elsa, I have your next victims!”

"Kristoff, you can’t say stuff like that! At least not in earshot.” She flashed a grin at the group, punching Kristoff lightly in the arm when she reached them. “Hi, everyone. Don’t listen to him. Social skills of a reindeer.”

Tadashi buried his head slightly into the high neck of his jacket to try and hide his dropped jaw. The woman’s hair was almost as white as the snow itself, and the blue of her snow gear seemed a dull grey compared with the blue of her eyes. She had a lopsided grin on her face and Tadashi wondered how all the snow was still intact given how warm he was getting.

“Everyone, this is Elsa, our resident Snow Queen.”

“Oh my god,  _one time_.” There was an odd noise from the back of the group as Wasabi tried to smother his outburst with a coughing fit.

“Elsa, this is birthday boy Tadashi and brother Hiro, then… Fred, GoGo, Wasabi and Honey. Did I get that all right?” There was a chorus of positive responses from the group. “I’ve already told Tadashi about our birthday wishes policy.”

She chuckled, “Thank you, Kristoff. And happy birthday, Tadashi.” He popped his head up to say thank you, before delving back into the sanctuary his jacket provided.

“I’ll leave you to it. I have Anna’s kiddie group turning up any minute now.”

“It’s been an honour serving with you, Kristoff.” She rested a hand on his shoulder and he gave a solemn nod, looked down at the floor with a sigh… before he stood up straight with a grin, waved his goodbyes to the group and walked back to his store room.

Elsa grinned and turned her attention to the group in front of her. “So! All snowboarding, by the looks of it, so… let’s find out what you’re all capable of, shall we? Anyone snowboarded before?”

They stood talking at the base of the slope for a short while, Elsa finding out their levels of experience and discussing what the day would have in store for them. Given that the levels of experience were fairly low, and that Tadashi hadn’t snowboarded since he was little, they started out easy, working their way up the slope a few metres at a time. Disregarding the first hour, in which everyone spent more time sat down on the snow rather than stood up on their boards, the group made steady progress. Tadashi found that his childhood boarding skills were slowly coming back to him, and Hiro was picking things up quickly, getting the occasional feeling of déjà vu.

GoGo was eager to make her way further up the slope, but Elsa managed to keep her at a safe height until she’d mastered  _stopping_ to Elsa’s satisfaction. Fred was doing his best, sticking with Hiro and pulling the younger boy back onto his feet as often as he was pushing himself back up.

Not comfortable on snowboards at all, both Wasabi and Honey traded in their boards for skis at Elsa’s suggestion, much happier when they were able to move their feet independently. When Kristoff had returned them to the snow, Elsa let the other four practice what they had been taught so far, whilst coaching Wasabi and Honey in the basics of skiing, before the whole group broke for lunch.

“Can we come here again for my birthday?  _Please_ , Tadashi?”

Tadashi pulled off his helmet and grinned down at his younger brother, “You’ll have to ask Aunt Cass, buddy. But I don’t see why not.” Taking off his jacket, he sat down around a table with the others, breaking out the various treats that Aunt Cass had packed for them.

He listened to the group talking about the morning’s entertainment: GoGo was talking with Hiro about how far up the slope they could make it before the day was out, but also reluctantly agreeing that they probably weren’t ready for the ominous looking red slope just yet. Fred was debating with Wasabi and Honey whether snowboard or skis were best. Tadashi was wondering just how long he could keep up his amateur act before Elsa saw through his attempts to have her coach him more than was necessary.

Unfortunately for him, he clearly wasn’t doing a good enough job.

“Tadashi, I thought you said you knew how to snowboard?” Wasabi’s curious gaze turned towards him, followed by everyone else’s. Fred piped up next, “Yeah, I thought you’d done this loads of times!”

“I… well, y’know, I just… I’m out of practice is all.”

“Uh huh. And the hot instructor has  _nothing_  to do with your lapse in memory.” Fred smirked, popping some sushi into his mouth.

Pop. “My god, boys are  _so_  predictable.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you, she’s damn cute.” Fred nudged Tadashi in the ribs, causing his sushi to fall from his chopsticks.

“I don’t have a crush on the instructor.”

“He didn’t say you did…” Honey grinned, sipping innocently at her drink. Tadashi’s face turned a deeper shade of red as he ate his lunch.

“You  _totally_ have a crush on her! Wait until Aunt Cass fin-”

“Noo, no. You do  _not_ say anything to Aunt Cass, she’ll want to drag her back to the café.”

“Aww, look at you getting all protecti- ow! Hey, I need that leg to ride the slopes!”

“Shut up then, Fre-”

“Hey guys, ready to get back out?”

“Sure, Elsa! Say, Tadashi here was wondering if he could maybe head up the slope a little? He’s ready for it.” Fred flashed a cheesy grin at the blonde instructor, expertly masking the pain of Tadashi kicking him in the leg, which stopped immediately when Elsa looked down at him.

“I don’t see why not, you seemed to have remembered most of your childhood skills. Shall we give it a go?” She grinned that lopsided grin again, and Tadashi couldn’t say no.

* * *

“Okay, so just like before, we’ll go down together. Just keep a hold of my hands, and you’ll be fine, okay?”

 _Hold her hands and you’ll be fine. Physically, anyway. That’s the important one, right?_ Tadashi just nodded, looking down at the intermediate slope. At the bottom, Wasabi and Honey were slowly but surely side stepping their way up the slope to have another go at the beginner’s run, and the other snowboarding amateurs were watching Tadashi’s run from the side of the slope.

“Are you ready?”

Tadashi swallowed, taking her proffered hands, “As I’ll ever be.”

“On three. One… two… three!” Elsa kicked off, pulling Tadashi over the incline. It didn’t take too long to build up speed; the snow was perfect, the run was smooth and clear and Tadashi was suddenly reminded of the first time he’d been down a yellow slope as a kid. With a whoop, he let go of one of Elsa’s hand and fist pumped the air as he zipped past their spectators, and his momentary loss of balance would have sent him flying had Elsa not been keeping a tight hold of his other hand. When he reached the bottom (and apologised profusely to Wasabi for spraying him with snow) he grinned at his instructor.

“Can we do that again?”

She chuckled, and waved a hand to the ski lift, following him over and up the slope again. They picked up the others on the way up, and Elsa carefully and methodically explained how to transfer the skills they’d learnt lower down the slope to the higher speed. She demonstrated with Tadashi’s help a couple of times, before Tadashi went it alone. After a long while practising, GoGo and Hiro were chasing each other down the slope, Fred providing commentary as he followed them at a slightly slower pace. Towards the end of the day, Kristoff leading the way, Honey and Wasabi ventured towards the yellow slope as well, both of them making the descent whilst holding onto Kristoff’s waist, their skis interlocked with his own. He took Hiro right up to the top of the slope just as the slope was beginning to close for the evening, the young boy standing on the back of his skis, and cheering the entire way down.

Elsa slid over to Tadashi once his brother had made it to the bottom, his shouts of joy echoing around the large hall. “Want to try?”

Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, wincing, “Ooh, I dunno. Not sure I could stand on the back of that guy’s skis without wiping out the both of us.”

“You can stick to your board if you like. Come on, I’ll take you up.” He opened his mouth to decline… but promptly closed it again.  _You’ve been holding hands for most of the afternoon. She’s just_ teaching _you. Get a grip, man._

He followed, watching his friends get smaller and small as the ski lift took them to the top of the slope. Once they’d reached the limit, Elsa hopped into place, and indicated where Tadashi should stand. “Don’t be nervous. You’ve done great today, you’ll be absolutely fine now.” She held out her hands for him to take, and Tadashi almost fell flat on his face when that lopsided grin appeared on her face again.

_Woman up, Tadashi._

He hopped into position in front of her, taking her hands, looking down the slope. He’d never been this high up as a child, his mother had never allowed it. He would occasionally sneak further up the slope under his father’s watchful eye, but never right to the top.

“Tadashi?”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you ready?”

“… uh huh.”

“Sure?” She gave his hands a reassuring squeeze, the sensation forcing him to look at her.

“… yes.”

“Okay. On three. One…”

_You can do this Tadashi._

“Two…”

_This is nothing. Just a lil’ hill._

“Three!”

_She looks really cute when she’s excite-_

Elsa slid over the edge and started down the incline, Tadashi gripping onto her hands so tight he was sure his knuckles had turned white inside his gloves. The wind rushed through his hair, and as he was staring down the slope he caught sight of Elsa’s braid flying behind her in his peripheral vision. The grin on her face was infectious, and Tadashi found himself whooping just as his brother had done, letting go of her forward-most hand, but refraining from fist pumping the air again.

They were already halfway down the slope when he realised that Elsa had let go of his other hand, and he was steering himself down the slope on his own. He grinned harder, all of his previous experience kicking back in, and he reached the bottom of the slope with his arms raised, cheering and came to a graceful stop in front of Wasabi, who he had again covered in snow. Hiro tackled him to the ground mid-apology, yelling about how awesome his brother looked and how they just  _had_  to come back here for his birthday and how _awesome_  his brother looked.

Kristoff and Elsa stood to the side of the group, chuckling at the hyperactive teen, who showered them in praise because this was the best birthday ever, even if wasn’t his, and  _did you see how awesome that was!,_

Kristoff helped the group remove their various boards and skis, and led them back to the store room, Elsa walking at the back, next to Tadashi. “So, I know your  _brother_  enjoyed your birthday present. Did you?”

“This… it’s been amazing. Thank you. I think I’d have fallen flat on my face a few dozen times if you hadn’t been so patient.”

The blonde chuckled, “You’re welcome. But you’re better than you give yourself credit for. A couple more days practise and you’d be flying down that slope.”

“Is this where you pull out the membership leaflets?”

“Noo, no, I was being serious. But now you mention it…” She smirked at his slight eye roll, “I’m kidding. I’m just glad you had fun.” They had reached the edge of the small waiting area they had started out in, and Elsa held out an ungloved hand to Tadashi, “So. Hiro’s birthday?”

He chuckled, pulled off his glove and shook her hand, “Seems like. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy your evening, Tadashi. Bye everyone!” She let go of the birthday boy’s hand and gave the group a parting wave, before leaving the group with Kristoff to come down from their adrenaline highs, but not without a quick passing grin at Tadashi.

They were still buzzing by the time Aunt Cass had arrived to pick them up. She entered the hall to see the group going through the motions they had learn during the day on the carpeted floor, and chuckled as they quickly launched into an explanation of their day to her.

“It sounds like you had an awesome time! I might have to tag along next time.”

“Only if Tadashi doesn’t still have a crush on the instructor.”

“ _Hiro!_ ”

“Oooh, really? Who?” Hiro took her by the hand and dragged her to the viewing window, where they could see various members of the slope staff rearranging the snow for the next morning. Hiro pointed Elsa out as she wandered by, and Aunt Cass tilted her head, “Oh, so  _this_  is where she works!”

Six heads turned to face Aunt Cass, but it was Tadashi that broke the stunned silence, “You  _know_  her?”

“Sure, she comes into the café every so often. Chocolate doughnut and a vanilla latte. Quite the sweet tooth, that one. Her  _and_ her sister.”

“She has a siste- ow!”

Pop.

“Mhmm. Elsa’s a lovely young woman. Quite reserved though, very poli- wait, did you say Tadashi has a  _crush_  on her?” Hiro grinned toothily, nodding. Tadashi groaned. “Ooh! I’ll let you know when she’s next in the café!”

“Aunt Ca-aass…”  _… note to self: Chocolate doughnut and vanilla latte._


	6. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You're cute, little robot,_  
>  _Your 'skin' white as snow_  
>  _And I do like warm hugs,_  
>  _But_ please _let me go._

"Please, Elsa?  _Please?_ "

Elsa had never heard Kristoff plead like this before. It was rather amusing. She smirked, wondering just how long he might keep it u-

 _Woah, okay, begging on your knees is too much._

"Kristoff, get up."

"... please?"

"Of  _course_  I'll cover Anna's shift tomorrow." Kristoff stood up and pulled Elsa into a hug, lifting her up off the floor.

"Thank you, thank you,  _thank you_! I'll make it up to you, I'll... I'll get chocolate or something-"

"Kristoff, don't worry about it, honestly. You don't owe me anything... you could put me down though."

 _Besides, it's not like I've got any plans for the 14th._

In fact, she had been so certain of her lack of plans, she had already planned to cover Anna's Saturday shift, doing everything over the course of the previous week and managing not to arose suspicion. Kristoff had asked until the eleventh hour to say anything, and she had been on her way to volunteer when he'd found her in the corridor outside their changing rooms at work.

Kristoff finally put her down and apologised, before all but skipping away to get changed and get back to the apartment that Elsa, Anna and Kristoff shared.

 _... maybe I should build an igloo here for the weekend._

* * *

Elsa had always been an early riser, and so as not to be a third wheel in any of Kristoff's plans that day, she decided she would creep out of the house and take advantage of the quiet Saturday morning streets, before heading to work in the afternoon.

Skipping breakfast, she had a lightning quick shower, got dressed just as quickly, grabbed her coat... then fell over a small white pile of... something sat directly outside her front door.

"Ow..! What in the hell...?" She turned herself around, sitting on the floor and rubbing her knee. She looked at the white plastic blob on the floor, no larger than a football. "What idio-" She fell silent as the white blob inflated with a small his and two little black eyes appeared on its... head?

It stood up on two little pudgy legs and walked over to her, holding a three fingered hand over her knee. There was a beep, and a green cross appeared on the front of the blob, followed by a sad cartoon face. Too fascinated by the little blob to attempt escape, she watched as it slowly lowered it's hand onto her knee. She felt a cool sensation emanating from it's palm, and her knee felt slightly numb, the small pang that she had felt after falling to the floor completely gone.

The robot - that's what she assumed it was anyway - removed it's hand slowly, before returning it's arm to it's side and taking a step back. She noticed that the face on it's chest had been replaced with a happy one, before it returned to a blank opaque white.

Elsa sat looking at the robot with fascination. Who had left it there? Had it been intentionally abandoned in front of her front door? No, that couldn't be the case. What reason would anyone have for that?

Had it escaped from somewhere? It clearly had medical capabilities; perhaps it had wandered from the local hospital? But it was miles away, and why would it camp outside  _her_  door?

She watched it for a few more seconds. Suddenly, the screen on it's chest came to life again, and a stylised red heart appeared on the screen and it held it's stubby little arms out as if...

_... the robot wants a hug_.

Elsa frowned, and watched as the small squishy robot waddled over to her again and in lieu of any other body part to grab hold of, it fell onto her legs and wrapped it's arms around them, hands barely touching. And stayed there.

It felt slightly warm. And although it was  _most_  bizarre, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. However, she did have to move at some point. Besides, what might the neighbours think if they saw her being attacked by a tiny cuddly robot in the middle of the corridor?

_They'd put it on the internet, that's what they'd do. Or worse still, they'd show Anna._

Deciding it was in her best interests, especially given how her sister would react if she appeared at the still wide open front door, she moved her legs in an attempt to detach the robot from her.

It wouldn't budge.

"Uuh... you... you can let go now. Please.... please?"

The robot's head tilted up to look at her, still holding on tightly.

"I... this is cute and all, but... I have to get up."

The robot seemed to register her request and let go, returning to its previous position, about a foot away from her.

She got up slowly, and watched as the robot's beady little eyes seemed to follow her every move. She closed the front door, and took a few steps down the hall, and it followed her. She stopped, it stopped. She moved, it followed.

"Are... are you... following me?"

The robot said nothing, but the happy face appeared once more on its chest. She took that as a yes.

"...why?"

It opened its arms again and took a step towards her.

"Woah, it's okay... I... I don't need another hug right now." She lowered her hand when it came to a resting position again.

"...who left you here?"

The heart.

_... oh boy._

* * *

 "Good morning, Elsa! I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow, everything alright?" Aunt Cass had quickly realised that Elsa was quite the creature of habit, unlike her sister - she always had the same drink, unless she could be convinced to be a guinea pig for a new item on the menu, and Aunt Cass had successfully timed her watch by Elsa's pre-work appearance for a week. Seeing her alone on a different day was cause for concern.

"Uhm... yes, everything's fine... is uhm... is Tadashi here?"

Not oblivious as to what day it was, Aunt Cass grinned. "He's in the living room. Why don't you head up there? Don't worry," She began, already halting Elsa's polite refusal, "You won't be interrupting. He's only finishing his breakfast."

Elsa didn't move for a moment, so Aunt Cass flipped up the small hatch in the counter top to allow the girl to pass through, before gently steering her to the staircase. She failed to notice the small robot plodding along behind her, simply walking under the hatch and then tackling the stairs like a toddler.

Elsa's long legs brought her to the top of the staircase before it had managed the third step, and she quietly called out, "Tadashi?". She heard an affirmative noise come from the direction of the open plan kitchen, and as she turned the corner she saw Tadashi in a t-shirt and short pyjama bottoms, sipping on some tea. He turned to face the person who had enquired after him and almost choked on the hot liquid.

"Elsa! What're... I mean... uhm... morning." He grabbed a towel to wipe up the tea that had dribbled down his chin and onto his top, and then seemed to realise he was still in front of his pjs, moving slowly to stand behind a chair at the dining table.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Cass said I could come up, I... I didn't realise you... sorry." Elsa sheepishly looked at him, unsure as to whether to avert her gaze or not, and to be honest, not really sure if she wanted to.

"It's... it's okay. Uhm... how... how can I help you?"

"Well... I was hoping you might be able to explain something."

"...okay." Elsa didn't elaborate any further, and appeared to be waiting for something. "Uhm... what is-"

"Just... hold on a second."

Tadashi waited, quite literally holding on to the back of the chair he was hiding his legs behind. A few seconds later and he saw it - the small robot had finally made it's way up the stairs and waddled over to stand next to Elsa, looking up at her expectantly. Tadashi stayed quiet.

"I uhm..." Elsa looked down at the robot, then over at Tadashi, "I stumbled upon this little robot outside my apartment this morning. Literally, actually. Since then it's been following me around and... hugging my leg whenever I stand still for more than a few se- ... see?"

Tadashi nodded sheepishly, looking down at the robot attached to Elsa's leg, oblivious to the inconvenience he was causing his recipient.

"Tadashi," Elsa's voice was softer, her gaze lowered slightly, her cheeks tinted red. She smiled warmly, but with a hint of amusement, "Did... did you build him?"

There was a pause, and Tadashi shifted uncomfortably, his bare feet feeling stone cold on the hardwood floor. "He... he wasn't supposed to be... quite so clingy."

Elsa ducked her head even more, and Tadashi couldn't make out her expression. He shrank slightly as she spoke again, "It's... It's not that I'm not grateful..."

_But it's a lame present and why the hell would you do that Tadashi, you_  idiot.

"... but I have to go work in a couple of hours and I can't justify leaving something this  _adorable_  in my locker." The words came out in such a rush that Tadashi had to repeat what she'd said in her head to figure out what she'd said. 

"Uhm... then... well, you could... uhm... leave him here with me, and I'll... tweak him a little so he's not... quite so clingy. And you can have him back... later." Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"That... that sounds great. ... thank you." She bent down to try and detach the robot from her leg, but it wouldn't let go.

"Here... let me." Tadashi left the safety of his dining room chair, walking over and bending down to the robot. With a carefully placed tap, the robot let go of Elsa's leg and deflated back to the size it had been when she first fell over it. He straightened, picking up the small robot parcel, smiling sheepishly. "Maybe some instructions would be good too, huh?"

"Maybe." Elsa grinned at him, blushing just as hard as he was. "Thank you. I uh... I need to head to work."

"Okay. Have... have a good day."

"You too." Elsa smiled, her gaze flickering between the robot and it's creator, before heading back down the stairs.

* * *

Elsa pushed herself up off the sofa, tea in hand, and wandered to the front door to answer the bell. She saw nothing in the peep hole, then opened the door up, revealing... still nothing. Frowning, she peered up and down the corridor before she felt a soft thud hit her in the leg.

She looked down and saw two beady eyes staring back up at her. She crouched down slowly, putting her mug down to the side of the door, noting that the small white robot detached itself from her as soon as she began to move, and then hugged her again once she was stationary.

Her grin growing slowly, she shifted to look down at the robot, "... who sent you?"

It took a step back, and yet again, a stylised red heart appeared on it's chest, the clarity and colours sharper than she remembered. She looked at the robot carefully; on the surface he didn't appear to have changed much. He wasn't any bigger than she remembered -- have been dwarfed by another white robot she knew --, he still had no mouth to go with his beady eyes, but there were subtle changes to the material he was covered in, the way his stubby limbs were attached.

The heart on the robot's chest faded away once more, and he took a step back. Slowly, a pair of much longer legs came into view, and Elsa stood up to greet the owner.

"Still as adorable as you remember?"

"And then some."

"Success! And only one year late!" Tadashi raised his hands into the air, and Elsa giggled.

"You are  _such_  a nerd."

"You'll get no argument from me on that point." He lowered his arms from the air, wrapping them around Elsa's waist instead. "I give warmer hugs though, right?"

"Hmm..." Elsa's face suddenly became incredibly thoughtful, looking between human and robot. "Might have to conduct a few more studies before I can come to a conclusion."

Tadashi pouted. "Only a few?"

"You're right." She looped her arms around Tadashi's shoulders, pulling him closer, "We'll need several, very thorough tests before I can give you an informed response."

Tadashi slowly closed the gap between them, bringing his lips to hers, "With pleasure."

There was another thud near ground level and something warm attached itself to both Elsa and Tadashi's legs.

"Maybe without the robot around, huh?"


	7. The Fire - Part One (Hiro)

"Callaghan's in there.  _Someone_  has to help."

Hiro watched as his older brother ran back up the steps and back into the raging inferno. He took a step to follow, but turned at the sound of his name. "Elsa.."

"Hiro, where's Tadashi. I've looked  _everywhere,_ I can't-" She stopped, following the younger boy's gaze as he looked back up the stairs. "No... no.. no, no, n- Hiro,  _let go!"_

"Elsa, stay with Aunt Cass!" Hiro dragged his sister-in-law down to the bottom of the staircase, before turning around and running after his brother. As his foot touched the top step, he was forced to squint against blinding light, before a massive blast of heat hit him head on, the force sending him flying back down the stairs.

The sound of the explosion rang in his ears and he pushed himself up off the ground in a daze, fighting to keep his elbows from giving way. He could her voices, but they sounded muffled, like he was encased in jello. Blinking hard to force the lights dancing in front of his eyes to fade, he could see figures rushing about. His Aunt suddenly filled his vision, holding his face and staring directly at him, tears falling from her eyes. He rubbed his ears and slowly, he heard his Aunt's voice filter through in greater and greater clarity.

"Hiro! Hiro, are you alright? Say something,  _please!_ "

"Yeah... I'm okay, Aunt Cass, m'-"

Aunt Cass pulled him into a hug so tight he could barely breathe, rocking him back and forth, kissing him on the head, hands gripping tightly to the fabric of his hooded top. "Oh, thank  _god_ , my poor boy... my sweet little Hiro..." She buried her face in his shoulder, and it was then Hiro caught sight of the building in front of him... the building he'd been trying to get into...

"Tadashi... TADASHI!" He pulled himself free of his Aunt's embrace, half crawling, half running to the bottom of the staircase before his legs gave out and he hit the ground again, panting. "TADASHI!"

"Hiro!" Aunt Cass ran over to him, falling by his side and pulling him close again, refusing to let him move again.

Trapped, Hiro looked towards the building, and from his low perspective he could hear, rather than see, Elsa's screams at bystanders to let her go, to get to her husband. The building rumbled again, fire belching from the windows, glass shattering. He watched as Wasabi and Fred dragged the hysterical woman down the staircase, pleading with her to see sense.

"Elsa, stop! You can't go in there!"

"Elsa, think of the  _baby_!"

Aunt Cass tightened her hold on her nephew, as Hiro watched Elsa collapse on the staircase as a result of Wasabi's plea, wrapping her arms around her swollen stomach, her heart wrenching sobs that much clearer now she was at the same level as Hiro. Wasabi and Fred looked at each other, barely able to understand the horrific scene they had just witnessed, nevermind how to comfort a distraught wife. Possibly- probably widow. Hiro caught Wasabi's gaze as he looked over to him and his Aunt, and watched as his shoulders slumped even further.

Hiro saw Aunt Cass's hand waving in his peripheral vision, and Wasabi carefully knelt down beside Elsa and picked her up in her arms, in much the same way Tadashi would do if she dozed off in the lab after lunch, before carefully laying her on the camp bed he kept in the corner in case of late night project work.

Wasabi gently sat Elsa down next to Aunt Cass, who removed an arm from around Hiro and flung into around the sobbing blonde, stroking her hair. Hiro reached out and took her hand, his gaze falling to the ground.

None of them moved for what seemed like an age. Hiro finally heard sirens, and saw the flickering blue light hitting the orange tinted concrete. He heard the rush of water, and the hiss of steam as people worked to smother the flames. He saw heavy boots, and the blue legs of someone crouching down in front of them, followed by another, a large bag dropped to the side, purple-gloved hands undoing the zipper and revealing the medical equipment inside. He heard them talking to all three of them, but only his Aunt was listening, answering for all three of the family members. His gaze was forced upwards by one of the purple hands, and he found himself looking directly into the eyes of an EMT.

"Hiro? Can you hear me?" He nodded. "Good lad. Does anything hurt?" He nodded. Everything hurt. "What hurts the most?" He shrugged. He couldn't answer that. "I'm going to check you over, alright? Tell me if anything hurts." He let the EMT slowly assess him, the feeling of his hands poking and prodding and patting all over him strangely distant, and completely different to the feeling of his Aunt's hand on his back, Elsa's hand in his. The latter was soon removed, as EMTs carefully extracted a now deathly silent Elsa from under Aunt Cass's arm, slowly walking her to a nearby ambulance.

His EMT was talking to him again.

"Hiro. We need to take you to hospital for some checks. Your Aunt will be with you the entire time. I need to put a collar on you for the trip, okay?" Hiro sat there in silence, as the EMT strapped a collar around his neck before motioning to another pair of legs, who moved in, placing a stretcher on the ground.

"No."

"Hiro, sweetie?"

"I... I wanna walk. I want to go with Elsa. I don't wanna lie down."

"Okay, sweetie, it's okay. It's okay..." Aunt Cass mumbled into the side of his head, and the legs left with the stretcher. He started to push himself up on shaky arms and legs, his Aunt supporting him and slowly, they followed Elsa to the ambulance she had been put into.

Hiro watched as the rear door closed, shutting out the image of the burning Exposition Hall. There was a whimper from the bed, tears rolling down Elsa's face as the doors closed, her left hand extended as if she were reaching for something beyond the closed door. Aunt Cass took her hand and held onto it, rubbing the back of her knuckles, her other arm snaking around Hiro again, tightening as the ambulance began to move, leaving the sounds of chaos behind.

Leaving Tadashi behind.


	8. The Fire - Part Two (Aunt Cass)

"Ms. Hamada?"

Aunt Cass jumped when a hand lightly tapped her on the arm and turned to face the voice, expecting to see yet another nameless nurse or doctor. Instead, she was greeted with the forced smile of a police officer.

"Ms Hamada, we're sorry to disturb you," His partner stepped forward and nodded; she didn't respond. "We need to ask you about what you saw at SFIT. Your nephew as well."

Oh, she'd seen plenty. She seen the fantastic microbot display put on by her genius younger nephew. She'd seen the look of immense pride that his brother had worn during the entire show. She'd seen the ecstatic looks on their faces when Hiro had been accepted to the university, right before she'd pulled them both into a hug.

Tadashi's  _last_  hug.

"Ms. Hamada..."

Cass blinked, and the officer crouched down beside her chair, next to Hiro's bed. "Ms Hamada, did you see, or hear anything that may have been the cause of the fire? Or a contributing factor. Anything at all."

Cass looked to the floor, thinking. She had been with Tadashi's friends when she heard it - a low rumble that reminded her of the earthquakes her brother helped her through in their childhood home, tugging her away from her toys and under the coffee table, even when he became too big to fit under their with her.

Someone had shouted, a man's voice, before the entire scene around her had erupted into chaos. She had pushed the group of students towards the door and had called out for her nephews. She'd spotted Tadashi's cap waving above the crowd, and looked down at the man holding it. He'd closed the gap quickly, grabbing Aunt Cass's hand and shoving Elsa's into it, before pushing them towards the door. He'd then grabbed Hiro and pulled him up onto his back, the younger boy holding on whilst they ran.

Aunt Cass reached the front door and kept running, dragging the younger woman along with her down the staircase and onto the green. She came to a stop, turned to Elsa, making sure she was okay. The coughing woman had waved her concerns away, before they both started to look around for the brothers.

They couldn't see them.

Aunt Cass went one way, Elsa went another. She scanned the crowd for what seemed like hours, shouting out both their names with no response. There was another massive rumble, a flash of light from the entrance of the building, followed by the sound of an explosion that left her ears ringing.

It was only when she'd heard an agonizing cry that she knew where Tadashi was. She ran.

"Ms. Hamada..."

She wasn't able to catch her nephew before he hit the ground.

" _Ms. Hamada..._ "

If only she'd stopped sooner, maybe Tadashi wouldn't have gone back.

" _Aunt Cass._ "

She looked up at the boy in the bed, covered in ash, clothes dirty and torn, his face red from the heat of the explosion. She followed his nod to look back at the police officer.

"... no. I didn't see anything."

"You didn't see anyone-"

"She just said she  _didn't_  see anything, alright?" Aunt Cass could bring herself to stop Hiro as he pushed himself up off the bed, and glaring at the officer. "Why don't you guys go and bother some-"

He fell silent at an all too familiar and horribly painful sound coming from another bay in the emergency department. Aunt Cass's eyes widened, and she looked to Hiro. "Stay here."

"But-"

"Stay  _here_ , Hiro!" She shoved the police officer out of the way, and forced herself through the wandering medical staff to the source of the distress - two more police officers were stood in the small bay, looking at each other for guidance and finding nothing. Aunt Cass dragged them out of her path and made her way to Elsa, who had forced herself as far into the corner of the bay as she could manage, hugging her knees. She crouched down in front of the sobbing woman, and took a hold of her hand. Aunt Cass started muttering to Elsa, trying to calm her down, even just a little. She stopped suddenly when she heard one of the officers clear his throat behind her.

Eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, she stood up and stormed over to them. "What the  _hell_  did you two say to her? Look at what you've done! You should've come to me!"

"Uhm, sorry ma'am, but..." The officer shrank slightly under the much shorter woman's glare. He looked about twelve. A child playing dress up. He had no business talking to any of them. "We needed to speak with Mr. Hamada's next of kin  _first_. That's Mrs. Hamada." He glanced over to the blonde, still curled up, but silent.

The other uniform-clad child spoke up. "Ms. Hamada, we came to inform you all that... the fire department has made a preliminary search of the building and... we've found a body."

Aunt Cass's glare softened immediately, and she forced herself to say, "...whose?"

"The ID and bank cards in the wallet found in a pocket lead us to believe the body is that of Mr. Tadashi Hamada."

There was a strangled noise from behind the police officers and Aunt Cass saw Hiro peering in from around the corner. She wanted to reach out to him, but she couldn't move. Up until now, his death had just been an assumption. No one could have survived the explosion. But to hear it confirmed like  _this..._

"We'll still need a family member to confirm, but someone will contact you about that in due course." They didn't wait for a response, the female officer tugging on her colleague's elbow, leading him from the bay, leaving the three to suffer the full crushing weight of reality.

Later on, in the early hours of the morning, Aunt Cass heard the pleading voice of Honey, and assumed the other three voices belonged to the others in Tadashi's group of friends. They fell silent, the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer before she saw several feet visible under the pulled curtain. She squinted slightly at the light that filtered in, before it was blocked behind Wasabi's bulk.

"Aunt Cass... can... can we come in?"

She nodded, her neck stiff from how her arms had been positioned for the past... who knows how long.

She watched as the four students came in, covered in dust and ash, exhaustion written all over their faces. She felt movement from underneath both her arms and Elsa and Hiro slowly woke up from their restless sleep.

Somehow - Aunt Cass was simply too drained to try and remember - the trio on the floor were engulfed in a hug from the students. None of them said a word, no pointless apologies, no words of condolence, just their presence, right through until morning.

She still felt lonely.


	9. The Fire - Part Three (Elsa)

” _There_ you are, Elsa. Is everything alright, sweetie? Do you want go and lie down?”

Elsa looked at Aunt Cass, the older woman looking up at her, eyes brimming with concern, her hand running slowly up and down Elsa’s arm. The blonde shook her head, “No… I just needed the bathroom.” Cass’s hand moved from her arm to her back, rubbing in soothing circles. Elsa’s morning sickness had returned with a vengeance a few days after the explosion, the stress causing the once minor inconvenience - suffered purely in the morning, Tadashi at her side keeping her braid out of harm’s way - to haunt her constantly. She was grateful that the café was still closed, the smell of coffee conspicuously absent, but Elsa doubted she’d be going anywhere when it reopened.

She couldn’t stand being at their- her-  _the_  apartment. Everywhere she turned, there was something of Tadashi’s. His favourite coffee mug, half empty on the coffee table. The desk in front of the window was littered with half finished designs, projects he was working on, his rushed scribbles on sticky notes stuck to the side of his computer screen. She’d attempted to stay there at one point, determined to convince herself that things would get better. She had reassured her family and friends that she would be okay and she was, for a few minutes. She’d been so tired, she’d gone straight to bed, and the instant her head had hit the pillow, she’d been surrounded by his scent. The warm, spicy scent of his shower gel, combined with a hint of lubricating oil from his work that he could never quite scrub himself clean of; the smell that was so uniquely Tadashi.

She had cried herself to sleep, only to be woken an hour or so later by a nightmare so vivid, that the smell of burning wood, metal and something she never wanted to imagine again, had thrown her out of bed and into the bathroom, bringing up the tiny amount of dinner she’d been able to stomach. On shaky legs, at some god forsaken time of night and moving purely on adrenaline, she had walked the considerable distance to Aunt Cass’s shop, ringing the doorbell on the side door to her home, rather than the café. Aunt Cass had opened the door, bleary eyed, rolling pin in hand. The pin fell to the floor the second she saw the younger woman, stood on the doorstep in pyjamas, unlaced trainers and one of Tadashi’s baggiest hoodies, long since claimed by his then-girlfriend Elsa. She had dragged her inside, steered her up the stairs and onto the sofa, before filling her up with green tea and as much toast as she could manage, before spending the rest of the night by her side. Hiro had come downstairs the next morning, refilled all their mugs and sat by on the other side of his Aunt, greeting Elsa with a quiet “Morning,” as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Aunt Cass hadn’t let Elsa stay anywhere else after that. She had re-dressed Tadashi’s old bed, still tucked away in the corner of Hiro’s room and Elsa had taken up residence, helping out around the house where she could.

A week and a half later, and the living room was now filled with those who had attended the joint funeral for Tadashi and Professor Callaghan, the mentor whom Tadashi had died trying to save. There had been nothing of the Professor to bury, so they had erected a simple headstone next to Tadashi’s. Elsa, Aunt Cass and Hiro had been equal parts relieved and horrified that they would not be required to identify Tadashi’s body, as the fire had wrought so much destruction it wouldn’t have been possible. Aunt Cass had held them both, telling them it was for the best, that they should remember Tadashi how he was. Easier said than done.

"Elsa?"

Aunt Cass lightly touched the blonde’s cheek and Elsa jumped, breathing hard. She focused on Aunt Cass’s voice, following her instructions - deep breath in… and out… in… and out…

"Y’know w-what… maybe… maybe I will go and… have a lie down." She bit her lip hard, until she was certain it might bleed. She was sick of crying. She hadn’t even cried this much when her parents had-

_Hiro_.

The younger boy was sat at the top of the stairs, blocking her path. He was looking solemnly at his smart black shoes, looking a lot older than he had a few weeks ago. Elsa walked slowly up the stairs, squeezing onto the step beside him, waiting. She’d spent enough time in her own head to know that it took more than a few seconds to put your thoughts into words.

"I keep expecting to walk in and see him on the computer. Or find him downstairs making really bad lattes."

"Out cold on the sofa after working late… deliberately singing off-key in the shower."

"He does-… he did that to you too?"

"I’d turn the tap on in the kitchen so he’d stop."

"Never worked." Elsa and Hiro looked at each briefly, smiling slightly at their shared response, before looking back down the stairs.

"… everyone keeps saying he’s still here."

Elsa sniffed. That was the hardest thing to hear. She could just about handle the constant “We’re sorry for your loss”, all the offers of help, most of which she knew were just words. But he wasn’t there anymore. Tadashi  _was_ gone.

But he  _wasn’t_. Not completely. He was still there; in the things he’d left lying around, in the silly stories they had of his antics, in the wonderful memories she had of their first meeting, their first date, their first night together and all the other nights that followed. When he’d proposed a mere six months after their first date, and she was so sure of his love for him that she said yes before he’d even finished asking. The day, two months after they’d returned from their honeymoon in Japan, that she’d purposely asked him if Baymax was loaded on any information about pregnancy, because they were going to need it. He’d ran through the university grounds like a mad man, hugging anyone and everyone who didn’t get out of his way quickly enough, and two days later had put all his project work on hold in order to update Baymax with all the information he could find. Elsa smiled sadly, remembering how his gorgeous brown eyes had lit up when she had playfully called him ‘Dad’.

Her face fell when she realised he would never hear it from his child’s lips.

Suddenly, Elsa grabbed at the bannister, taking a shaky breath inward. She heard a worried, “Elsa?” from Hiro, but before he could run downstairs to his Aunt, she grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. His face flickered between worry and confusion, before settling on wonder, as Elsa took his hand and held it against her stomach.

She watched as Hiro’s lips turned upwards into a small grin, his hand shifting to better feel the movement of his unborn nephew. “… Tadashi, version 2.” Elsa looked at him, fresh tears beginning to form, but smiling.

"He is still here." 


	10. Untitled nurse!Elsa AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently untitled - I’ll see which one fits best after a few chapters.
> 
> Based on an [angsty AF headcanon](http://blunaowl.rocks/post/111300935845/tadashi-survives-the-fire-but-is-bound-to-a) and an amazing [commission by comickergirl](http://comickergirl.tumblr.com/post/101960901536/searlait-elsathegreat-im-so-happy-to) because inkx-universe had the _audacity_ to combine the two in my brain.

Aunt Cass jumped at a thud from the room above her, followed by a yell of frustration. Frowning, she made her way up the staircase, calling out cautiously, “Tadashi? Sweetie? Is everything alright?” She walked to the end of the corridor, tapping gently on the frame of the thin, sliding door. “Tadashi?”

She listened, listening to the quiet rumble of castors on wood, padded feet making their way slowly to the door. It slid open, revealing the tall, muscular figure of her oldest nephew. He looked drained, his jet black hair flat on his head from hours of sitting under his baseball cap. He rubbed his face, scratching at the stubble that he’d been too distracted to care about. He ran his hand to his ear, tugging at the lobe, “Sorry, Aunt Cass.”

“Tadashi, you look exhausted. Why don’t you come and have a cup of tea or something, take your mind off your work, hmm?”

“No, I’m fine, I ate…” He checked the time on his watch and raised an eyebrow in surprise, “… eight hours ago.” He watched as Aunt Cass merely raised looked at him with a deadpan expression, crossing her arms in front of her.

“… okay, I’m coming.” He pulled his pencil out from behind his ear, throwing it back onto the desk, before following his Aunt in the living room. It was late, the café below them had been closed for hours, the patrons long gone for the evening. The TV was on, the adverts playing quietly. Moshi had taken total control over the sofa in the short time Aunt Cass had been gone, save the small spot at the end of the sofa where Tadashi’s brother Hiro was upside down, headphones in, playing games on a handheld console, kicking his feet in the air.

Tadashi walked over to the kitchen, making himself a sandwich whilst Aunt Cass started boiling the kettle.”So what is it you’re stuck on?”

“It’s…” To others, he might have just continued with ‘complicated’ and left it at that. Not with his Aunt. She wasn’t as into robotics as he or his genius younger brother was, but she was interested in whatever it was her boys were up to, and Tadashi would never dream of insulting her intelligence. Experience had proved on numerous occasions that talking things through with his Aunt would often help him find the solution to his problem, whether it was one of her suggestions, or simply saying the problem aloud in more basic terms. “It’s the programming. I have all the information, but… there’s no way to communicate it. just recites symptoms and standard treatments, there’s no…”

“… personality?”

“Right,” Tadashi said, with a heavy sigh. “I mean, he’s a robot, I know, but… he’s  _robotic_. Who’d want to talk to a nurse that’s just spewing stuff from their textbooks? I know I wouldn’t.” He took a bite of his beef and tomato sandwich, running a hand through his hair and turning up his nose at the mustard he’d left on his forehead.

Passing him a paper towel, Aunt Cass frowned at him, “Have… have you ever actually spoken with a nurse?” Tadashi shook his head, continuing to chew. “Y’know, maybe if you want to give your robot a nurse’s personality… you should get an idea of what sort of people they’re like?”

"That… that would be great. But I can’t just go down to the hospital and ask one to stop treating a patient so I can find out what lollipop is most effective with crying kids… I’ve tried.”

“Maybe you don’t have to. There’s a nurse that pops in some mornings. Lovely girl. I’m sure she’d be happy to answer a question or two. You’d have to get up fairly early though. She’s normally my first customer.”

* * *

‘First customer’ meant a 7am wake up call for Tadashi, who hauled himself out of bed on the off chance that a random nurse wouldn’t run screaming at his bed hair. He pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt, before wandering down the stairs, meeting his Aunt in the living room and grunting a good morning at her.  
She chuckled, pushing her mug of coffee to him, “Here. You clearly need this more than I do.” Patting him on the back, she finished her breakfast, before heading downstairs to open the café.

Tadashi drained the coffee mug and wandered downstairs a few minutes late, giving the caffeine time to kick in. Sure enough, Aunt Cass was happily talking to someone, working her magic with the milk steamer. Tadashi padded down the stairs in his socks, peering around the corner to see if the customer was indeed the nurse his Aunt had spoken about.

The person was crouching down, their bottom half clad in royal blue pants and trainers.  _The early morning wasn’t for naught, then._  Tadashi found himself staring slightly through tiredness, not at all surprised when a feminine voice replied to Aunt Cass. He rubs his eyes, and was about to make his presence known, when the nurse stood up and Tadashi wondered if he wasn’t still in bed, dreaming.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties, much taller than Aunt Cass, with a long, luxuriously thick blonde brain slung over her shoulder. As his Aunt moved back to the coffee machine, the nurse took a seat on one of the counter stools, covering a huge yawn with the back of her hand. He didn’t hear the comment that Aunt Cass made, but it clearly amused the nurse, and she grinned back at the older woman with the cutest, lopsided grin Tadashi had ever seen.

Remembering to breathe, he looked down at himself and the clothes he had thrown on without a care in the world, before sneaking back up the stairs and to the bathroom, making himself more presentable than he’d ever been that early in the morning.

Fifteen minutes later, he made his way back down the stairs without the secrecy of his first visit, strolling out to stand behind the counter with his Aunt, who smirked at the change of appearance. “Aaah, Tadashi, there you are. C’mere. I’d like you to meet someone.” She took him by the arm, pulling him over to stand opposite the nurse. He swallowed hard as he came face to face with the nurse. She looked exhausted, and a small, clearly sleep-addled part of Tadashi’s brain wanted to bundle her up in several duvets and let her sleep until the following morning.

“Elsa, this is my nephew, Tadashi. Tadashi, this Elsa. She works in the emergency department at SF University Hospital.” Aunt Cass grinned, looking between the two. Elsa was the first to speak, holding a hand out over the counter, smiling politely.

“Aah, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Tadashi.”

“And you, Elsa- wait, ‘finally meet me’?” He looked at Aunt Cass with no small amount of concern.

Elsa pulled her hand back with a grin, before explaining, “Your Aunt mentioned that you’re working on a nursing robot, or something?” She slipped slowly at her coffee, looking at him curiously.

Tadashi looked at his Aunt, who had conveniently begun to sidle away to clean, before looking back to Elsa. “Yeah. It’s my project at uni. Unfortunately, it’s little more than a walking medical encyclopaedia at the moment.” He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling half-heartedly.

“Still, that’s a good place to start. I know plenty of nurses… doctors even, who have winning personalities and can’t tell one end of a needle from the other.” Elsa chuckled, sipping her coffee again, playing with the hand of the mug. “Scary thought, actually.”

Elsa looked up at Tadashi and caught his slightly worried look. “Oh! No, but there are  _plenty_  of competent doctors and nurses there, don’t worry, you’d be fine. Not that you’d be fine if you were in the ED in the first place… I’m… I’m sorry. I’m tired, I tend to ramble a bit when I’m tired.” She hid her sheepish smile in her coffee mug, sipping slowly.

Tadashi smile had grown with every second of her ramble, and he chuckled slightly, “No, it’s… it’s fine. Uhm… listen, maybe not now, I don’t want to intrude on your coffee time, but… I’m trying to find out a bit more about the bedside manner of nursing. I mean, the information’s great and all but, I want my robot to use it effectively and appropriately. Would… would you mind if I ran some stuff by you? A few questions here and there… sorry, I know it’s a bit presumptive, but-“

“Sure.”

“… huh?”

“The occasional question and answer session’s not a problem. If what your Aunt’s already said about your robot is correct then…” She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand, and mumbling an apology before continuing, “It could be a really good tool. Besides, being the only person here so early can be a bit quiet at times.”

“… thank you. I’ll uhm… I’ll leave you to your-” He peered into the mug, trying to determine what drink she’d ordered. “… latte? No, I smell chocolate. Mocha.”

“Bingo.”

“Awesome, what do I win?”

Elsa chuckled at his childish grin, and looked around the counter top. “Uhm… this spoon?”

Tadashi took the proffered utensil and held it aloft like a trophy, “And with this, the world is mine.” He wiped the triumphant look from his face when he heard a spluttering noise, apologising profusely to Elsa, who was wiping coffee from her chin, trying not to laugh. “I’m  _really_  sorry… I’ll get you another one-“

“It’s fine, really. I should be getting home, anyway… I’ll hold you to that, though.”

“Deal. Have a good day, Elsa.” He put the spoon in the dishwasher, before giving the departing Elsa a small wave. 

“You too, Tadashi.”

Tadashi watched her leave, and was about to head back upstairs before his Aunt spoke - he could  _hear_  the smirk on her face. “Hey, Lord of Spoons? Could you pass me a pen?”


	11. Kankū Dai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on a prompt by thearendork: _Oh yeah, you do karate? One-shot challenge: Tadelsa, sparring/karate basics teaching, shenanigans. :P_
> 
> A kata ('form') is a series of techniques performed in sequence. _Kanku Dai_ is a kata taught to brown belts and above in Shotokan karate.
> 
> The levels of fluff were brought on by a full day of Frozen Fever mayhem. I make no apologies.

Elsa liked Sundays. Sundays were lazy days; days that she could forget about lab work, projects and classes and lose herself in the mundane. 

With the fresh start she had found when she moved to San Fransokyo, Elsa had tried to force herself into better habits. Some habits were more difficult than others to break - she still found herself still working into the early hours of the morning, as she had done in the few short years she had actually acted as CEO of her father's airline before abandoning the post to her sister. Even with the board of directors helping her, she had still been required to play a significant part in the running of the company, and more often than not, Gerda or Kai would haul a dozing Elsa from her father's old office to her bedroom, to spend what little was left of the night in relative comfort. 

Though she had made considerable effort, the habit just wouldn't budge. On a number of occasions, one of her classmates had arrived at the labs in the morning and found her hunched over her desk, fast asleep. Said classmate would wake her up, force a cup of coffee, tea or energy drink into her hands and state the obvious - she was working too hard, that it was only her first year, it was only her first  _semester_ , and she still had plenty of time to work on her project. She would politely agree, the classmate would continue with their own routine, and nothing would change. 

Some awakenings were more pleasant than others. Fred and Hiro were loud enough to wake her up before they'd even entered the room. GoGo would show very little sympathy, saying that she only had herself to blame if she fell asleep during lectures - something which thankfully, hadn't happened... yet. Wasabi and Honey would show a bit more concern, but it would slowly turn into lecture about working too hard. 

Tadashi would show concern, but offer his assistance every time. No matter how much of his own work he had to complete, he would always offer to help Elsa with whatever it was she was working on. Sometimes, when he was taking a break from his own work, he would pass by her desk and ask her how she was progressing. Once or twice, when she was completely bamboozled by what it is she was working on, he would convince her to take a break with him, often without her realising until they were stood in front of a coffee or vending machine. 

It had been Tadashi who had managed to convince Elsa to join him and the rest of his friends on Fridays at the Lucky Cat Café. She had briefly been there on her first evening in town, where she had first met Tadashi, before she knew she was going to be in his class, and it had only taken one reminder of the wonders that were Aunt Cass's chocolate doughnuts to make her join them every Friday. 

Get-togethers on Fridays slowly lead to get-togethers on Saturdays, which then lead to get-togethers... whenever it was suggested by someone. In fact, she had grown to love the café so much, that she had worked it into her Sunday routine. 

First off, a walk through the park. Whatever the weather, she would walk the same meandering path, come across the same yawning dogs walkers, the same joggers, and an old woman who seemed to sit in the same bench day in, day out, feeding whatever bird or small animal happened to be in front of her. 

The warmer spring weather had brought with it a few extra people, but Elsa would distract herself from  the steady trickle of new faces by focusing on the natural beauty that had begun to spring up all around her. Cherry blossoms had started to fill the entire park, slowly breaking up the huge expanse of green with a wide array of pinks and reds, which only seemed to intensify as the sun rose above the array of traditionally styled buildings that lined one of the park. Late one night, after a particularly horrifying nightmare a few weeks prior, she had looked out of her window towards the park, and the view of the blossoms almost glowing in the moonlight had nearly made her cry. 

But now it was sunny, there was a cool breeze, and Elsa found herself drawn to sit under a particularly old cherry blossom, gnarled and twisted, but still casting an ethereal glow upon the ground, the steadily climbing sun seeping through the leaves. 

She'd only been sat there for a few minutes before an unfamiliar sound caught her attention. It was a huffing sound, short and sharp, as if someone were blowing out a match. It was occasionally broken by a longer, slower breath; almost a sigh. Elsa frowned, listening carefully. After a while, she noticed it followed a bizarre sort of pattern, with a muttered cry mid way through, and towards the end, before it was repeated. 

She pushed herself up from the grass, brushing herself off and slowly, silently, following the sound. She gently pushed aside a small overhang of blossom from the tree and saw a man in a vest and sweatpants, performing a series of movements on a path, the speed of the movements matching the pattern of breaths. Elsa watched as he leapt, turning in mid air, landing a few feet away on his hands, one leg bent under him, the other outstretched. There was a pause, before he pushed himself up, swiping at the air near his right thigh with the side of his hand. 

Elsa's eyes went wide as she recognised the man, but he didn't seem to notice her at all. Tadashi stepped forward, chopping the air again, before turning around and sweeping his arm as if to push something away. He turned to face behind him, performing the same sequence again, punching a second time, before turning into another move. 

Elsa watched, utterly transfixed and uncaring that her curtain of cherry blossom had fallen behind her, but Tadashi was too focused on what he was doing to see her, hidden in plain sight. He moved gracefully from one position to another, yet Elsa could see immense bursts of power at the end of each move, the muscles in his arms, his back, his entire body tensing for a split second before he relaxed and continued. He slowly spun almost full circle, his arms sweeping around in front of him, before he came to a stop. Elsa could see he was somewhat breathless - what had looked almost effortless had caused small beads of perspiration to trickle down from his hairline, down the contours of his neck and onto his vest. Tadashi turned, reaching for a small towel and water bottle the Elsa hadn't realised was in between them, and her cheeks took on the shade of the tree she was stood in front of within seconds. 

"... Elsa." 

"... hi." 

Tadashi rubbed the small towel over his face and through his hair, before slinging it around his neck. "Sorry, I... I didn't see you there. I tend to get a bit... zoned out when I practice." 

"... what  _was_  that?" 

"A kata. Kankū Dai."

"... Kankoo what?" 

Tadashi chuckled and took a small swig of his water before continuing, "Kankū Dai. It means 'To look to the sky'. It's a karate thing."

" _Ooh._.. I... I thought I saw a... y'know..." She did a small karate chop action in the air, "or two." 

Tadashi moved slightly closer, standing in the shade provided by the tree. "Shuto uchi. Knifehand strike." He dropped his bottle on the floor and took hold of her still outstretched hand, adjusting it's position. "You need to hold your thumb in tight, right up against your finger. This muscle here," He ran a finger up and down the base of her thumb gently as indication, "will tense up. See?" She nodded, suppressing a shiver as his finger brushed against her wrist.

"When people do a 'karate chop', they normally flick their hand about. You'd end up hurting yourself rather than the person you're trying to strike. Now..." He let go of her hand and adjusted the position of her arm. "Keep your elbow tight... and drop your shoulders a bit." 

Elsa frowned in concentration, trying to follow his instructions, but her shoulders refused to co-operate. She tensed up even more when Tadashi walked round behind her, his hands on her shoulders, trying to position them. "Relax, Elsa. You're way too tense." She thought she heard a mumbled 'It's no wonder you get headaches,' but she was too distracted to comment. 

"Elsa. Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly, okay? In.... and  _out..._ " As she breathed out, he applied gentle pressure to her shoulders, forcing them lower. He held his hands there for a moment as she started to breathe normally again, making sure they didn't rise up. "That's better." He grinned, walking back round to her front. "Now. You're almost there. But the power doesn't actually come from your arms, it comes from your hips. Actually... " He looked thoughtful for a moment, before taking both her hands and pulling her away from the tree into the open space he'd been practising in before. "let's start from the bottom." 

"... don't you mean 'top'?" 

He grinned, his brown eyes glinting as they stepped into the sunlight, letting go of her hands when they were in the open. "Nope. From the bottom. None of it works unless you have a good, solid foundation, so first thing is your stance. I'll uhm... I'll show you a simpler technique to begin with. Choku zuki, in zenkutsu dachi - a punch, in a forward stance. Okay?" 

"... you know I won't remember the Japanese terms, right?" 

"Eeh, I'm sure you'd pick them up eventually." Tadashi moved to stand beside her, acting out his instructions alongside her, "Okay, stand feet shoulder width apart... okay, now without moving your feet, kneel down. ... that's it. Okay, take your left hand... no, sorry, your  _right_  hand, make a fist and place it in front of your knee. Make it touch- right. Okay, now, take your  _left_  hand, make a fist and put that in front of your right fist. Right, now... without moving your left, move your right foot so it's in front of your left fist... wait, no... round the outside, so your arms are inside your knee... awesome. Okay, now, brace yourself with your left hand, and push yourself up but  _don't_  move your feet _._ " 

"... how can you  _stand_  like this?" 

"Practise." Tadashi chuckled, and crouched back down on the floor again, taking hold of Elsa's knee, and pushing it out slightly. "You shouldn't be able to see your big toe. Well. If you didn't have sneakers on, you wouldn't be able to see your big toe. Now, just turn that foot inwards  _slightly_... there. Zenkutsu dachi. Forward stance." 

"I'm just glad I'm not wearing jeans." 

There was a momentary pause, while Tadashi took another swig of his water, before clearing his throat and standing in front of her. "Okay, make a fist." 

"... just... a normal fist?" 

"Yeah, yeah. If you were going to pummel Fred, how would you make a fist." 

She paused briefly, thinking, before making a fist and holding it in front of her.  
Tadashi took her fist in his hands, looking it over. He smirked slightly, "... that's perfect, actually. Remind me never to creep up on you." Elsa just gave him an innocent shrug. "Okay, next thing... you know what, just stand normally for now. Sorry." 

Elsa stood up straight with a slight wince, flexing her ankle. "How long have you been doing this?" 

"Uh... almost eleven years." 

"It shows." She couldn't help the quick glance at his broad, muscular chest, and tried to back pedal when Tadashi's cheeks reddened slightly. "I mean... all that practice has refined your... techniques."

"Well they say practice makes perfect, right?" 

Elsa could only make a non-committal sound of agreement, focusing once more on her extended right fist. Tadashi did the same, explaining the dynamics of a proper punch, how each part of her arm had to move; how her elbow had to remain line with her hip; when and how to twist her wrist; how to pull the other hand back to test against her hip. He would correct her technique every so often, a touch to her elbow here, a hand to the back of hers there. Minor adjustments, but his close proximity meant it took her far longer to grasp the nuances of the movement than she had thought it should. 

"Okay, stand in zenkutsu dachi again, and punch slowly." 

Elsa moved into the forward stance, adjusting her knee so she couldn't see her sneaker, and punched. She wobbled slightly, but kept her balance. "This... doesn't feel very stable." 

"Your hips aren't aligned properly. May I?" It was the first time Tadashi had deliberately asked if he could make contact, but despite her confusion, Elsa nodded. His reason was soon made clear, as he walked around to stand behind her and placed his hands low on her hips, turning them slightly to face forward. "Generally, when you're attacking, your hips should face forward. When you defend, they're turned to the side, like this." He slowly turned her hips to face to the left, his hands not leaving her sides. "Doing this reduces your target area, so your opponent has fewer options." He turned her to face forward again. 

"For now though, keep your hips forward, your back straight- not  _that_  straight... right. This is how you should end up." There was a pause, and Elsa only realised he had moved when she felt the warmth of his hands leave her hips. He was rubbing the back of his neck as he came round to stand beside her, something she had come to realise was a nervous tic. She was glad she wasn't the only one feeling a bit nervous right now. 

He moved into the same position that she was in, talking her through the entire technique, the timing, the small flick she needed to do with her hips in order to lock everything into place. He then talked her through a punch with the other hand, but her feet in the same position, having to make very few corrections. Within minutes, they were punching the air in unison. Elsa frowned over at him when Tadashi let out a muffled cry on his tenth punch. He quickly waved away her concerned look, "It's called a Kiai. It's an outburst of energy, it's supposed to focus everything for that split second when you attack." 

He stood normally again, and Elsa happily took that as a signal to do the same. She let out a small groan, her muscles not used to the odd stance, and Tadashi quickly moved in to make sure she was alright. 

"It's fine. I'm just... this is probably the closest I've come to sport in a long while." She smiled, rubbing her shoulders. 

"Well, karate's not just a sport - it probably sounds quite clichéd, but it's a way of life. At the very least, it's a good way to unwind. And with practise, everything becomes second nature." Tadashi picked up his water bottle and baseball cap from the floor and slipped his feet back into his sandals. "If... if you want, I could show you a bit more. I'll be here most Sundays. And your afternoon tea and cake will taste even nicer afterwards..."

Ah, yes. Part two of her Sunday routine. After her walk through the park, she would wander to the Lucky Cat Café and partake in some jasmine green tea - something Aunt Cass had suggested she try, and a slice of chocolate cake. Afterwards she would make her way home, maybe stop off at the grocery store for something for dinner, before enjoying the rest of her day at home, maybe sat by the window with a book, or curled up in front of the TV with a film Honey had lent her, because she just  _had_  to watch it.

Yes, Sundays were lazy days. But Elsa was certainly tempted by Tadashi's offer. And she  _did_  feel more relaxed...

"... okay. But... don't expect me to remember 'zenkutsu dachi' next Sunday."

Tadashi smirked, "Uh huh. Don't you speak like, four languages? Fluently?"

Or five. But he wasn't wrong, and Elsa wasn't going to correct him. Instead she smiled sheepishly, giving him an small shrug. Tadashi just chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sure you'd pick up the terms fairly quickly. I mean... you've picked up this techniques well enough, so..."

"You're a good teacher."

"Thanks." He smiled, putting his cap back on his head, the shade provided by the brim hiding the slight blush blossoming on his cheeks. "Uhm... listen, I'm was going to head back to the café, grab something to eat... I know it's earlier than normal for you but... d'you wanna come?"

_... never hurts to break from routine once in a while, right?_

Except once in a while while became every Sunday. Elsa would go for her walk in the park, breaking into a jog, using the opportunity to warm up. She'd find the gnarled cherry blossom tree and the man sitting beneath it. They'd stretch - Elsa would fight the urge to jump into the small lake at the view provided - and Tadashi would teach Elsa karate.

Three months of Sundays later, Tadashi and Elsa were sat with their backs up to the tree trunk, taking shelter from the sudden deluge that had had them looking like drowned rats within seconds. Tadashi held out his towel, then paused, looking at the dripping cloth.

"...maybe not." He chuckled, wringing out the towel, peering out through the branches, "Doesn't look like this is going to let up any time soon." He sat back, his bare arm resting against her almost-bare one. "We can wait it out, but I don't want you to catch a cold or anything."

"Don't worry about me. I don't mind the cold."

Tadashi hummed in response, raising a sceptical eyebrow. "Maybe so, but warm and dry is preferable." He leaned around Elsa to look back towards the path they had entered the park by. "There's not much cover until we're out of the park... fancy a run?"

Elsa swallowed, focusing her attention back on Tadashi's face, at the hair plastered to his forehead, at the beads of rain clinging to his eye lashes-

_Elsa! Respond!_

"A... a run. A run! Okay. Sure."

"... you okay?"

She bit her lip, nodding. Tadashi shifted slightly to rest on his knees, his hand reaching up to her forehead, gently brushing rain-soaked hair from her eyes. He lowered his voice slightly, his finger following in the wake of a raindrop running down her face, and brushing her knee as he let his hand drop to the ground. "Y'sure?"

The rain started to beat down heavily on the leaves above them, forcing their way through and hitting the pair, but they didn't break eye contact. Elsa's small nod shook the rain from her hair, and Tadashi raised his hand again to wipe the droplets from her cheeks, pushing them to the edge of her jaw, before running his fingers into her hair and cupping the back of her head.

Tadashi moved closer, Elsa leaning in with very little encouragement from Tadashi, the heavens opening as their lips finally met, the white noise of the rain hitting the leaves above them drowning out anything that might distract them from each other. When they broke apart for air, Tadashi's eyes flicked up towards Elsa's hair, and he chuckled, reaching up and taking hold of a cherry blossom that had been forced from the tree in the storm.

"And I thought they were prettyon the  _tree_."

"I don't know..." Elsa reached up to take his jaw, tilting his head down slightly before taking a blossom from his own hair, "It suits you better." She chuckled as he reached up and shook the blossoms free from his sodden hair. Elsa took care of the few that remained, before Tadashi took her hands in hers.

"...tea?" She nodded, and Tadashi stood up, before helping Elsa to her feet.

It was still raining, though not as heavily as before, and Tadasahi started to count down the seconds to their dash to next piece of cover, his grip on her hand tightening, when Elsa interrupted him. "The café's not going anywhere... why don't we take our time?"

Tadashi merely grinned, tugging her out from under the tree by the hand, into the rain, and towards home.

 


	12. One In Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on an otpdisaster prompt on tumblr:
>
>> Person A knowing that Person B does cute things only when A is asleep (plays with their hair, gives forehead kisses, tracing their lips, gentle snuggling, draws them, etc). One day Person A pretends to be asleep, but ends up being unable to hold back a smile as Person B begins displaying their rare affection.

 

Nine times out of ten, Elsa would be awake long before Tadashi. He was more of a night owl, working late into the night, staying in bed until the last minute, before he had to rush around and get ready for work. More of an early bird, Elsa would have already gotten up, rustled up some coffee and  _frokost_  - the only meal she trusted herself to make - and would straighten Tadashi’s tie, pulling him to a kiss before he left for work.

However, on was the rare occasion Tadashi would wake before Elsa he would never let on. Instead he would lie still, in whatever position they had ended up in the previous night, listening to her calm, slow breathing, her quiet mumbling, feeling her fingers twitching every so often against his skin. Late on Sunday morning, he was lying atop Elsa, his head on her chest, their legs intertwined, after they had both passed out in the early hours. He heard the moment she began to wake, as her breathing changed and her heartbeat sped up ever so slightly, but he remained still. He kept his eyes shut, forcing his face to stay relaxed, as he felt the muscles in Elsa’s shoulder tense slightly, her warm breath skim down her chest and into his hair as she looked down at him. He heard the quiet flump of her head falling back against the soft pillow, and soon after, one of his favourite moments of the morning began.

Elsa had never been one for public displays of affection. When she had first become a member of Tadashi’s circle of friends, only Aunt Cass was able to make any sort of physical contact with the blonde - mainly because she wasn’t given much of a choice when the older woman pulled her into a hug. As Elsa and Tadashi slowly got to know each other, there had been small touches on his arm here, a brush of hands there, but that was it. It had taken a long time before Elsa was comfortable enough around him for anything more, and even longer before they had come remotely close to their first kiss. As they got to know each other better, as Elsa learnt to trust him more, and trust herself around him, he began to realise she was actually an extremely tactile person, as if she were making up for years of sequestering herself away from the world. As a result, her need for contact had culminated in a habit that Tadashi found absolutely adorable.

On more occasions than he would care to admit, starting long before they had spent their first night together - he’d been far too happy to sleep that night - Tadashi had dozed off in Elsa’s lap whilst they lay on his bed above the café, or on the sofa in her apartment. When she thought he was asleep, Elsa’s fingers would travel slowly and carefully over Tadashi, into his hair, along his jaw, his nose. She would draw lazy circles all over his chest, his back - anywhere she could reach. The first time he’d woken up to it, he had looked up at her, just catching her content - and slightly smug - smile. The subsequent look of embarrassment that replaced it was enough to make sure he didn’t interrupt her again. It had been a week or so later that the habit had resurfaced, and Tadashi did his utmost to make sure Elsa was blissfully unaware he was awake, until he couldn’t keep still any longer.

Though he tried to reign it in, he couldn’t help but smile against Elsa’s chest. He realised she must’ve felt even that small movement when the soothing crawling of his skin came to an abrupt end, her fingers still. He lifted his head up to look at her, his eyes still slightly bleary, looking as if he’d just woken up. He shifted, propping himself up on his elbows, brushing a few strands of hair from her eyes, his smile growing. He said nothing, merely shifted up the bed, planting gentle kisses on her skin as he moved. If Elsa had any suspicions  of him being awake prior to that point, Tadashi was determined to spend the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon, making sure she forgot them.


	13. Decorations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loosely based on the following prompt from otpprompts on tumblr:
>
>> Imagine Person A walking in on Person B, who has placed googly eyes over their nipples.
> 
>   
> Set in the Snowboarding!AU for an additional lol. 

"Tadashi. Are you alright?" Baymax waddled over to the door, leaning over slightly to look at his creator. Tadashi looked up at him, leaning heavily on the door handle, trying not to fall into the flat.

"Baymax,  _ssshhh..!”_

Tadashi pressed a finger to his lips, before grabbing his hat and flinging it at the rack on the wall, watching as it missed the metal hook by at least a foot, before landing on the floor. “Oops.”

"My scans indicate your blood alcohol level is elevated. Are you inebriated?"

"Yes. I am inebee- ibeeni- … I’m  _drunk_. But only a  _little_ bit.” He pinched his fingers together, holding them up to Baymax’s face, squinting. Baymax peered into the gap, trying to see what it was he was holding, before tilting his head and looking down at Tadashi. He watched after him, as he attempted to traverse the minefield that was the clutter-free floor of the living room.

Baymax toddled slowly after him. “Do you require assistance?”

"Noo, no, I’m fine. M’goo-" He grunted as he walked into the armchair, falling into it. "Nope. No, no, no, no, I… I meant to do that. Jus’…" Tadashi ducked his head down, cup a hand around his face and whispered - albeit it rather loudly - " _don’t tell Elsa.”_

The robot came to a stop about a foot from the armchair. “Elsa is asleep. I do not wish to wake her.”

"Me neither, so ssshhh…!"

"… I may be damaged. I can hear air escaping-"

Tadashi smirked at the robot, waving his hands dismissively, “No, no, s’me. Ssshh means  _be quiet_.”

"It is just an expression?"

” _Yes!-_ Yes… s’an expression. N- ooh, lookit…” Tadashi’s eyes were drawn to a small package on a nearby table, amidst several things that had been left behind by Anna on her last visit to her sister. He hauled himself off the chair, and fell to his knees by the table, clutching the packet like it was a delicate antique.

"Oh.. my God."

"Tadashi?"

” _Oh… my God._ Look! Lookit the little… the little eyes, look! … _look!”_

"I am looking, Tadashi."

"These are-" Tadashi gasped, his eyes widening slightly, before he hauled himself over to his computer desk, where he proceeded to stick two googly eyes on top of each of his speakers.

He doubled over, a hand clamped over his mouth in an attempt to muffle his guffaws, before slowly making his way around the living room and putting googly eyes wherever he deemed necessary. He even put some on Baymax, before stumbling over to the bedroom door - he just  _had_ to show Elsa his handiwork.

"Tadashi-"

"Ssssh, Baymax..!" He slowly opened the sliding door, creeping around the bed and kneeling down by Elsa’s side, turning his head 90 degrees to watch her sleep. He stayed there for a few minutes, grinning inanely at his ridiculously pregnant wife, fast asleep, completely oblivious to her husband’s drunken mischief.

 _Pffft, I can’t wake her up,_ look _, she looks so_ cute _… Heh… my itosh-_

Elsa turned slightly, trying to get comfortable, and Tadashi froze. He held his breath, he stopped blinking, he even stopped  _thinking_ , just in case it would wake Elsa up… until he realised that her t-shirt had ridden up almost entirely above her bump.

He bit his lip hard, his grin growing to enormous proportions. Quietly, he poured out the remaining few googly eyes and  _ever so carefully_ dropped two into place on Elsa’s stomach. He lightly pressed them into place, before sitting back to admire his handiwork.

_It’s wonky._

Brow furrowed in concentration, he peeled one of the eyes off Elsa’s stomach, before placing it in a better location. As he moved back, he saw another set of eyes looking at him.

"… Tadashi… wh-"

"Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow, immediately suspicious at how quickly he responded. Slowly, she pushed herself, and Tadashi burst into hysterical laughter when the black pupils of the eyes started wobbling at the movement.

"What the-"

"Elsa. I require your assi-" There was a  _huge_ tearing sound as Baymax’s arm suddenly appeared through the sliding door, his other arm in the  _actual_ doorway. “Uh oh.”

"Baymax?!"

"My apologies. My optical sensors are… impaired." His arm retracted from the door, and his head came into view through the hole, two large googly eyes covering his own.

Elsa’s jaw slowly dropped, staring in confusion at the robot, whose chubby fingers were simply unable to peel off the thin discs. She ran a hand through her hair, and felt something tugging on the skin of her stomach at the movement. Frowning, she looked down, and caught the sight of two googly eyes creating a weird face, her bellybutton as the mouth. “Oh my  _god_.”

She shut her eyes, dropping her head to her chest. In one ear, she had Baymax fumbling with his own face, and in the other, she had Tadashi laughing so hard he sounded like he was in pain. The latter slowly died away, and Elsa looked up, only to be greeted by Tadashi holding up her prosthetic upside down, two googly eyes on the foot. He immediately burst out laughing again.

"Tadashi… what the  _actual fuck_.”

He could barely  _breathe_ , let alone talk, and stayed in a crumpled heap on the floor at the end of the bed. When Elsa tried to direct Baymax inch by inch into the bedroom so she could help him out, his laughter only intensified, the helpless robot waddling slowly through the maze, arms outstretched, fingers wiggling to locate any obstacles in his way. Following Elsa’s direction, he managed to open the door and walk in, and Elsa shuffled across the bed to peel away the fake eyes.

"Thank you, Elsa. My vision is greatly improved."

"Wonderful. Now can you take this drunken  _lout_ to the sofa and leave him there, please.”

"But Els’-"

” _Nuh uh._ You can go giggle yourself to sleep out  _there_.”

"…"

"You  _and_ your pout!”

"Aww…" Delicately, he pushed himself up to his hands and knees, and gratefully accepted Baymax’s extended hand. "Y’know… s’kinda hard to take your eyebrow thing s’rsly when y’ got two- two goog- googly eyes… on your s-stomach-" He started laughing again, and almost fell over when Elsa lobbed a pillow at him. "M’going, m’going! … love you, itoshii!"

"…I’m going to kill Fred."

* * *

"… _chikushō_.”

"Good afternoon, Tadashi."

"Bayma-  _ow_ …” Tadashi slammed his eyes shut again, groaning against the light of the living room. Even though the curtains were shut, and the lights were off.

"Elsa is not at home at the moment, but she has requested that you drink this beverage and ingest this medication. She informed me that you would wake up with ‘an almighty hangover’. My scans indicate-."

"Baymax… not so  _loud_ …”

There was a brief pause as Baymax literally turned his volume down, “My apologies Tadashi. Do you require assistance in sitting up?”

"I want to crawl into a hole and die…"

"That action goes against my programming, Tadashi."

"… s’a figure of speech." Tadashi pushed himself slowly up off the sofa, swinging his legs around and flinching slightly at a brushing feeling down his side. He cracked an eye open, and saw a blanket beside him. Gingerly, he wrapped it around him, burrowing in it. "What time is it?"

"Almost 1pm."

"… you’re kidding."

"No, Tadashi." Baymax flashed the time up on his chest, and Tadashi flinched at the bright light in his face.

He batted his hand at the robot’s chest. “Okay, okay, okay, turn it off…!” Baymax did so, and Tadashi waited a moment before opening his eyes again. He looked down at the table, and saw a glass of water on the table, and what looked like two painkillers beside it. He grabbed the glass, popped the pills, and greedily drank the slightly opaque liquid, grimacing slightly at the taste of antacid, but determined to finish the glass.

His efforts were in vain; as he reached the bottom of the glass, he saw two googly eyes slowly peek over the disappearing liquid, glued to the bottom of the glass. He snorted the drink back into the cup, and it ended up all over his face, up his nose, down his t-shirt and all over the floor.

He coughed hard, trying to get his breath back, rubbing his head, the pain pounding even more fiercely now. “… I deserved that, didn’t I.”

"I noticed that Elsa seemed most satisfied once she had stuck the decorations to the bottom of the glass."

"She’s going to kill me, isn’t she."

"I do not believe Elsa would deliberately cause you permanent physical harm, Tadashi."

"Well… at least you’re around for the temporary stuff."

"Yes, Tadashi."


	14. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something from the Critical Care AU.

He wasn’t up yet. She  _knew_  she should have reminded him about her appointment before she went to bed, but she’d been so tired. The café had been  _beyond_  busy and she’d simply forgotten. And he  _still_  wasn’t up.

Aunt Cass couldn’t clock watch any longer. She knew how difficult it could be to rouse Tadashi, and she only had another five minutes before she had to leave. Shooing Mochi from her lap, she stood up, finished off her cup of tea and walked upstairs, leaving her cup on the counter as she went.

As she reached the top of the stairs to the top floor, she noticed Hiro’s coat was missing from the rack.  _That explains it._ She’d heard the door open and close softly earlier that morning, just as she was getting into the shower.  _So long as he’s not bot fighting again…_

With a quick glance she saw Hiro’s bed empty. And  _made_.  _He’s making an effort… what’s he done?_ Aunt Cass made a mental note to find out where he’d vanished to later on, and made her way over to Tadashi’s bedroom “door”. She gave a quick rap on the wall, before calling his name. “Tadashi! Time to get up, you’re opening the shop, remember?” She heard the rustling of covers, and…  _was that a yelp?_  With a raised eyebrow, she pushed the sliding wall open, revealing a panicked looking Tadashi, wide awake in bed, next to  _someone else?_

 _Not someone else. Els_ a _._ She’d recognise that platinum blonde hair anywhere, and unfortunately for Elsa, she hadn’t managed to hide all of it when she’d dove under the covers. Aunt Cass smirked inwardly, taking note of the scrubs abandoned beside the bed.  _Someone got off their shift early…_

“Well,  _good morning_  you two.”

“Aunt Cass… this… uh… I mean, I wasn’t… I-”

“You’ve got fifteen minutes before the doors need to open. I’ll be back this afternoon. Where’s your brother?”

“… Fred’s.”

She nodded, relieved to know where the younger boy was. “There should be some fresh towels in the bathroom for Elsa.” She couldn’t stop her smirk from widenining as said young woman lowered the covers to  _just about_  show her eyes, her face bright red with embarressment. “Good morning.”

Elsa’s reply was muffled, and the covers rose once more to hide all but the small nest of blonde hair splayed on the pillow. Aunt Cass took a step backwards, hand on the sliding wall. “Fifteen minutes, Tadashi! Don’t keep the customers waiting!” She slid the door shut once more, and walked back down the stairs, praying that she didn’t just hear the “challenge accepted” tone of Tadashi’s quiet “fifteen minutes, huh?”.

_Need to tell him about putting a sock on the handle. Or bannister. SOMETHING._


	15. The Littlest Hamada

“Aunt Cass? Aunt Caa’ass… wakey-wakey…”

Her elbow slipped from the arm of the chair, causing her head to drop sharply, the support her hand had provided suddenly gone. Aunt Cass snapped awake, inhaling sharply, the sterile, recycled air filling her lungs and giving her a head rush. She blinked, rubbing her eyes, squinting slightly against the stark white of the corridor. The same voice that woke her up spoke again, calling her name. She looked to the side and saw her oldest nephew, looking like he’d just been dragged out of bed. Tadashi’s hair was poking out in all directions, his t-shirt _still_  inside-out, his sneakers poking out from underneath plaid pyjama bottoms.

“C’mon. Come and see your new nephew… cousin? Nephew once remove-… come and see him.”

Tadashi grinned before disappearing back into the side room. Aunt Cass looked down at her lap, giving Hiro’s shoulders a small shake. “Come on, Uncle.”

“Wha-?”

“Time to meet your nephew.” She levered Hiro up to sitting, yawning as he did so. She caught sight of her watch - 9:14am. She briefly wondered if her hastily scrawled message was still stuck to the café window, having been plastered to the glass with pricing labels in the late hours of the previous evening.

_Oh, who cares. I’m sure the rabble will survive without coffee and doughnuts for one day._ Aunt Cass stood up from her chair and stretched, rubbing the back of her neck to get the kink out. Quietly, with Hiro in tow, she made her way to the door through which Tadashi had disappeared, knocking quietly. She barely heard him grant her permission to enter, and she carefully opened the door.

It was significantly darker in the room than the corridor; the curtains were drawn, only a bedside light was on. Tadashi was sat wedged between a hospital bed and a much smaller cot, his chin resting on the side of the plastic bassinet, his hand hovering just over the small bundle inside. He glanced over to the door and waved his Aunt and brother over with a warm, but tired smile.

Almost on tiptoe, Aunt Cass walked in, carefully closing the door behind Hiro. The light level in the room plummeted once more, and Aunt Cass made her way over to her nephew, desperate not to wake the much bigger bundle in the hospital bed.

She couldn’t help but grin at the woman in the bed, Elsa’s disheveled blonde hair coming loose from her ponytail, mouth open ever so slightly open. The only noise in the room was her quiet snoring.  _She looks dead to the world, poor girl._ Not that Cass could blame her - apart from a short nap in the afternoon, Elsa had been up for almost twenty-four hours straight, and at least eight of those hours had been spent in hospital.

A harsh whisper caught her attention, and she turned to see Hiro, staring down into the bassinet. Tadashi was chuckling, “He’s a newborn baby, of  _course_  he’s wrinkly.”

“And he’s got so much hair.”

Tadashi shrugged, his dopey grin seemingly a permanent feature. “Y’got me there.”

“You know,” Aunt Cass began, moving to stand behind Hiro, slinging her arm around his shoulders, “Both of you had full heads of hair when you were born.” She finally peered down into the bassinet, gently shifting the blanket away from the sleeping infant’s chin. She stroked a finger across his cheek, her grin growing as his tiny mouth opened in a yawn, before closing without a sound. His eyes flickered open briefly, and the trio fell completely silent, Tadashi’s lips moving in silent prayer. Aunt Cass was transfixed by the infant’s huge eyes, not the deep chocolate brown of Tadashi’s eyes, but the intense sapphire blue of Elsa’s. She was both sad to see them close, and grateful he had remained asleep. “… neither of you had quite such  _luxurious_  hair though.”

Tadashi grinned, his fingers hovering just above the infant’s insanely thick black hair, as if he wanted to run one through it but didn’t want to risk him waking fully. “I’m sure he has his mom to blame for that.” He finally tore his gaze away from the bassinet, looking over his shoulder at his sleeping wife, gently taking her hand and running his thumb over the back.

Aunt Cass grinned at him, before looking back down at the baby. Tadashi’s baby.  _Tadashi’s son. His_ son _. My little boy’s not a boy anymore. He’s a father. And I’m a… wait, what_ does _that make me?_

“‘dashi?” Hiro said quietly, bringing Aunt Cass from her reverie, “What’s his name?”

“Haruki.” Tadashi turned back to face them, still holding Elsa’s hand awkwardly, but not looking to let go any time soon. “His name’s Haruki.”

Hiro looked down at the bundle with a grin, “Hey, Haruki. I’m your Uncle Hiro.”

Tadashi chuckled slightly, before biting his lip, eyes wide in fear. Elsa had shifted slightly in her sleep, groaning quietly before relaxing again. Aunt Cass placed a hand on Hiro’s back before whispering to Tadashi, “We should go. Let you both- … let all  _three_  of you get some well earned rest. Call if you need anything okay? We’ll come back later with lunch.” She stroked Haruki’s cheek once more, before pulling Hiro away from the bassinet.

Tadashi carefully extracted his hand from Elsa’s, then stood up and walked over to his Aunt and brother. Cass opened her arms wide, and Tadashi pulled her into a hug, almost lifting her up off the floor. He ruffled Hiro’s hair slightly before pulling him into the embrace as well.

“Congratulations, sweetheart. He’s gorgeous.”

“Thank you, Au-” Tadashi trailed off with a yawn in Cass’s ear, before he mumbled an apology. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as they pulled away, and Cass chuckled.

“Get some sleep. We’ll see you later. C’mon Uncle.” She put an arm on Hiro’s shoulder, steering him towards the door.

“Aunt Cass?”

She turned around to look back at Tadashi, a curious look on her face, “Mhmm?”

“Y’know… instead of calling you ‘Auntie-Cousin Cass Three Times Removed’ or… whatever it is… there’s always Grandma.”

Cass walked back over to Tadashi with a grin, giving him another quick hug before holding him by the upper arms. “Y’know, I don’t think I’m  _quite_  old enough to be called Grandma yet. Though I will happily assume all the responsibilities - spoiling him, giving you tips that you really don’t want, telling horribly embarrassing tales about your childhood-” She quickly found herself being steered towards the door, with Hiro being picked up on the way, and found it hard to reign in her laughter.

“See you later, Aunt Cass…! Love you!”


	16. The Littlest Hamada (cont.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr birthday gift for makingtodayaperfect day. Adds a Snowboarding!AU element to the previous chapter, and will no doubt be expanded upon at a later date.

She couldn’t tell whether the room was warmer, or if she was. She couldn’t move her hand to try and push the covers away. She couldn’t move  _anything_ actually. She couldn’t even open her eyes. Elsa heard a solitary hushed voice, but couldn’t open her own mouth to speak. Her heart began pounding in her chest, and as her panic grew she found it harder and harder to breathe. Suddenly, she felt a warmth against her cheek - a hand, she realised - and the once soothing voice became louder, more urgent. Finally, her eyes obeyed her commands and flew open, her body catching up a second so later. Elsa sat up quickly, and groaned at the protest of her aching muscles.

“Elsa, it’s okay! Look at me; you’re okay.” Tadashi gently took Elsa by the upper arms, rubbing with his thumbs, muttering assurances until her breathing calmed. Elsa stared down at the bed for a long moment, before shutting her eyes and sighing heavily. Tadashi pulled her into a hug, resting his chin atop her head, as he had done on several occasions before. Despite Elsa’s reassurances that she didn’t mind, he had seen - even amidst her contractions - that being in a hospital was doing nothing to help keep her calm. Unfortunately they hadn’t much of a choice; Haruki was being a troublemaker before he’d even arrived - he’d been in an awkward position for weeks,  _and_ he’d shown up two weeks early, dashing any hope any of them might have had for a hospital-free birth.

“I hate hospitals.” Elsa’s voice was muffled against Tadashi’s chest, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I know, itoshii. But it’s only for the day.” He looked down at her exhausted face with a warm smile, “We’ll be home in time for dinner. Or should I say the feast that I’m sure Aunt Cass is throwing together. … speaking of food.” Tadashi turned his head slightly at the quiet grumbling coming from the cot behind him, and saw Haruki’s hair flapping about slightly as he fidgeted. He pressed another kiss to Elsa’s head before letting her sit back against the head of the bed. Quickly, he turned to face the bassinet, reached in and carefully picked up the fidgeting infant - Elsa couldn’t help but grin as he muttered “Hold his head!” under his breath.

Haruki grunted slightly in Tadashi’s arms, his eyes wide open, his tiny mouth working to find food. Tadashi chuckled, carefully rearranging the blanket on his way back to the bed, sitting next to Elsa on the bed. “I think someone’s hungry again.”

“Let’s see if my second attempt at being a cow is better than the first.” She sighed dramatically, casting Tadashi a deadpan expression as she lifted her oversized t-shirt up, shuffling further up the bed to get in a comfortable position to feed Haruki.

“Itoshii-”

“Better than than being a whale, I guess.”

_“Elsa.”_  Tadashi raised an eyebrow at her, smirking slightly. “You were  _never_ a whale. And you’re not a cow, either.” He carefully passed Haruki over, and watched in awe as his little mouth immediately latched on to Elsa’s nipple, his grumpy face relaxing as soon as he began suckling. “You’re a new mom. And a gorgeous one at that.”

“… I’m a mom.” She looked up from Haruki, staring into middle distance as if she had suddenly worked out a millennia-old puzzle. “That’s…”

“Weird? Still not used to it?” That was how Tadashi was finding it - someone could call him dad and it would take a few seconds for him to realise they were talking about  _him_ \- but the pensive look on Elsa’s face made him think there was a little more to it than that.

“… I didn’t think I’d ever be a parent.” Elsa said, her voice quiet, “I always thought the closest I’d get would be babysitting Anna’s kids, but…” She trailed off, biting down on her lip. Tadashi put an arm around her shoulders, running a hand into her hair and crawling gently, pulling her closer.

“You’re already an amazing mother, Itoshii. Our kids are going to be the luckiest kids around.” He smirked as he saw her hairline move ever so slightly, even more so when she looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. “What?”

“Plural, huh?”

“I can dream, can’t I?”

“The past 24 hours were most certainly not a dream, I’ll have you know.”

“You already did. Me and the rest of the staff on this floor. In various languages.”

“Hey, it  _hurt_.”

“You almost broke my hand. You. The woman who can be at the bottom of a dog pile on solid ice and make it look comfortable. I am in no doubt that it hurt.”

“And you want me to do it all again.”

“I… uh…” Tadashi mouth flapped open and closed, as he tried to say yes without saying yes. Elsa could only keep a straight face for so long, her grin growing as Tadashi’s cheeks reddened more and more. She was about to comment when there was a knock on the door.

“Elsa? Tadashi, s’me!” Anna’s excited voice filtered in through the wood of the door, and Elsa could envision her pressed right up against the doorframe, bouncing up and down. “Can I come in?” Tadashi looked to Elsa for her answer - he wasn’t the one breastfeeding.

“Anna can. Uhm…”

“Not Kristoff and Co.?”

Tadashi nodded at her quiet ‘no’, and continued over to the door, talking before he’d reached the door. “Just you for now, Anna.”

“Kristoff’s at home,” She grinned when Tadashi opened the door, “I didn’t think having the terrible two around would be a good thing right now.” She ducked under his arm and into the room, quietly squealing at the sight of her sister and nephew, and immediately zipping over to the bed. “Oh my god, _lookit the cutie..!_  Hi, Els’.”

Tadashi snorted; he was fairly certain bats were circling the hospital by this point. He wandered round to stand on Elsa’s right, his spot on her left now occupied. “The cutie’s name is-”

“Haruki. I know. Elsa texted me.” She grinned at him for a split second, before looking back down at her nephew. “He’s so  _cute_ … even with Tadashi’s ears.”

“Hey..!” Tadashi scowled, his hand rising to tug on one of his ear lobe. “They’re not that big…”

Anna merely raised an eyebrow in an eerie imitation of her sister. “Uh huh. Well, I’m sure this mop of hair will cover ‘em up.” She grinned innocently at him, and got an eyeroll in response. “…actually, he’s got quite a few of your features. I mean, it’s hard to tell, he’s so tin- oh my goodness, lookit his little _feet!”_  She dissolved into squeals once more, cooing at Haruki.

Elsa shifted ever so slightly against the pillows and Haruki’s eyes flew open, causing Anna to gawp. “Oh wow, Elsa…”

Tadashi grinned proudly, “He’s got his mother’s eyes, though.” His grin faded slightly when he caught the look between Elsa and Anna. “What? What’d I say?”

“Nothing, Tadashi,” reassured Elsa, smiling up at him. “It’s just… I used to get that a lot. Kai once told me that Papa both loved and hated that I didn’t grow out of it - something to do with puppy dog eyes.” Elsa mumbled the last bit, and Anna snorted.

Tadashi just looked confused, “Grow out of it? What d’you mean?”

“Most babies have blue eyes when they’re born. You can never be sure of their actual eye colour until they’re about six months old. Norah and Lucas’ eyes were both brown by the time they were seven months.”

Tadashi’s face suddenly changed from understanding to a mild pout, “Aww… here’s hoping some of your recessive genes are as stubborn as you are.”

Elsa chuckled, “I’ll take that as a slightly veiled compliment.”

“I can be more direct if you want.”

“ _Get a room_ you two. …don’t say it.” Anna narrowed her eyes at them both, as they both bit back the comment that they already had a room; Anna just happened to be in it. “ _Anyway_. I would’ve asked before, but  _cute_ \- how are you?”

“I’m okay. Tired, sore and desperate for a nice, warm shower… but okay.”

“When are they discharging you?”

“This evening.” Elsa’s eyes looked up to Tadashi for confirmation, and Anna’s followed.

“Any time after lunch, so long as everyone’s happy. Aunt Cass is going to pick up the car from our place and bring food over in a few hours, take us back to the café. The gang’s going to meet us there too, just for a short while- if that’s alright?”

Elsa chuckled, carefully moving the now satiated Haruki to her shoulder, patting him softly on the back, “As if  _anyone_ could stop them from coming.”

“Elsa… you’re going to need to pat him a bit harder than that.” Elsa looked at her sister with a slightly horrified look. Anna smiled sympathetically. “I know. But only a little bit, look.” Anna didn’t take Haruki from Elsa, instead showing her as he rested against her shoulder. Very quickly, she got the desired response. “See?”

“… you were humming.”

“I was?”

“Mhmm… mama used to hum that tune.”

“Before or after I would dribble all over her shoulder?”

“… you are  _such_ a stinker.” Anna couldn’t be sure whether or not Elsa was referring to her sister or her son, and chuckled as the dribbling infant was handed over to his father… almost.

“Anna, you wanna hold him? I think I hear the hot water pipes calling someone’s name…” Tadashi had barely finished his sentence before Anna was holding out her hands, happily taking hold of her nephew, old habits resurfacing quickly. Tadashi grinned, and held a hand out to Elsa. She graciously accepted his offer of feeling more human, wrapping her arms around his neck as he carried her to the small bathroom, leaving Aunty Anna to hum Haruki to sleep.


	17. Critical Care - Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An addition to my "Untitled nurse!Elsa AU" fic - it just has a name now (as suggested by obsessedwithfrozen42 on tumblr). Until Snowboarding: Prologue is near it's end, I doubt I'll focus on this much, but I do have a couple more chapters up my sleeve. We'll see.

_“Mr. Hamada.”_

Tadashi woke with a start, to find his professor stood at the front of the lecture hall, tapping his thigh with his laser pointer.

“As much as I know some of you eat, breathe and sleep robotics, if prefer it if you did so elsewhere.  _Or at least quietly._ ” Professor Callaghan ignored the ripple of laughter that made it’s way through the lecture hall and turned back to his presentation.

Wasabi nudged Tadashi gently in the arm, and lowered his voice. “Hey, are you alright? You’ve been half asleep all week.”

“Yeah, yeah, m'fine. Just… not sleeping well, that’s all.” Tadashi had woken up early every morning since he had first met Elsa in the cafe. Aunt Cass wasn’t able to tell him what days she was normally there, figuring that her working pattern was tentative at best, given the nature of her job. Tadashi was determined to make sure he didn’t miss her at all, and had started getting up almost as soon as Aunt Cass. However, he was still sharing a room with his night owl of a brother, and was losing out on far too much sleep as a result.

And catching up on it in class, much to his embarrassment and his professor’s irritation.

Wasabi dropped the subject, after a wary glance at the scowling professor, and waited until after class to ask Tadashi, “How come you’re not sleeping well? Anything I can do to help? If it’s Hiro, we can always duct tape him here overnight.”

Tadashi chuckled at the thought of his brother spinning around on his chair, unable to do anything else. “No, it’s not him. It’s my project. I’m doing some research for it, but I can only do it in the morning.”

Wasabi frowned at him. “Why only in the morning?”

“Because that’s when she turns up.”

“When who turns up?”

“Elsa.”

_“Who’s Elsa?”_

“The nu-” Tadashi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay. So I needed to find out a bit more about nursing for my robot. Not just child hard facts and procedures. So Aunt Cass told be about this nurse who comes into the cafe after her shifts, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind me asking her questions and she said it was fine. So now I’m getting up earlier to speak with her. Not that I mind, I mean she’s really nice too.”

“She must be, if you’re willingly losing sleep over her… what’s she like?”

“Uhm… young, maybe, 20, 21? Tall, long blonde hair,  _gorgeous_ blue eyes…”

Wasabi raised a slightly disbelieving eyebrow, “Uh huh… I’m sorry buddy, but-” He clapped an arm around Tadashi’s shoulders, “I think you may be hallucinating.”

“Nuh uh. Definitely not. Ask Aunt Cass next time you’re at the café, she’ll tell you.”

* * *

“Hey, Aunt Cass? Who’s this girl that Tadashi keeps getting up early for?”

There was a thud as Tadashi’s head hit the table. He’d completely forgotten about his comment earlier that day, even when Wasabi suggested they all go to the café that evening for beat poetry night.

“Who, Elsa?”

“Elsa, ‘ey?” Fred leaned forward on the table with a grin, giving Tadashi a light punch in the arm.

“Yeah,” Wasabi continued. “Tall, blonde, blue eyed?”

“That’s her! She’s a nurse. Lovely girl. She’s helping Tadashi with his robotics project!” Aunt Cass grinned, jogging across the café to help out at the counter. All eyes turned to Tadashi.

Pop. “I’m hurt. We’re your closest friends and you’ve outsourced to a  _customer_ for help.”

“Hey, it wasn’t my idea. But if you’re moonlighting as a medical professional and fancy indulging my research needs, please. Share with the class.” Tadashi sighed, and looked down at the table. “I’m sorry, that-… that was rude.”

GoGo popped her gum again, raising her eyebrow at his uncharacteristic behaviour. “Hmm. Perhaps you should find a source of information that doesn’t require getting up at the crack of dawn.”

“Give her your number.” Fred mimicked Tadashi’s shocked stare. “What? It’s a perfectly logical suggestion. You and the nurse still get to chat, and you get to sleep.”

“… maybe.”

“And if you happen to get to know each other better, then so much the better.” Fred muttered, slurping his soda.

* * *

“Morning.” Tadashi put Elsa’s mocha in front of her with a smile, before leaning back against the work bench opposite the counter.

“Morning.” Elsa took a sip of her drink and hummed slightly. “Thanks.”

“No problem. How was your shift?”

“Nice and Q. For once.”

Tadashi frowned at the term. “Q?”

Elsa hesitated, before lowering her voice. “… 'quiet’. It’s a forbidden word at work. As soon as you say it-”

“It becomes the total opposite,” he finished with a chuckle. “I know what you mean. Well, I’m glad. You must not get many shifts like that.”

Elsa shrugged, taking a small sip of her coffee. “It depends. Some shifts are just busier than others. I imagine it’s the same here.”

“I suppose. Just… y'know, with fewer life or death decisions.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve seen plenty of people look ready to kill if their coffee’s not perfect.” Elsa grinned, taking a sip of hers.

“Oh geez. This one time, the coffee machine broke down. Completely. Couldn’t make anything. There were  _riots_. Angry old people tutting in shame. Business men waggling angry fingers at us. Tired parents having to make do with-” He gasped dramatically, a hand to his mouth. “-instant coffee.”

“Those poor people.” Elsa raised her eyebrow, smirking. “How ever did they man-” Elsa tried to stifle her yawn. Tadashi saw his chance.

“Listen, uhm… I appreciate you helping me with my project, but… I don’t want to keep you here when you’d obviously rather be in bed.”

“It’s fine, real-” Elsa yawned again.

“No, I mean it. Uhm… how… how about I give you my number and then… you can let me know when’s the best time to ask you stuff, and then… I’ll ask you stuff and you can text me back when it’s… good for you.”

Elsa looked down for a moment, watching the swirl in her coffee as she stirred it with her teaspoon. She looked back up at Tadashi. “If it means you’ll get some more sleep as well.”

“What?”

“Tadashi, you look as tired as I feel.”

“Who, me? Nah, I’m fine. S'just an hour or s-so…” He trailed off, mirroring Elsa’s yawn. “Well…”

“When I find out what shifts I’m working, I’ll let you know.” Elsa finished off her coffee, and slid off the stool, picking her bag up off the floor.

“That… that sounds great.” Tadashi grinned, taking the mug and spoon from the counter. “I’ll speak to you later, then.”

Elsa slung her bag on her shoulder with a slightly bemused smile, that only grew as time went on. Tadashi bid her farewell, moving to head back upstairs, before coming to a dead stop. Elsa heard him muttering to himself before he rushed back to the counter, ripped a piece of paper from a nearby notepad and scribbled something down on it.

“I… I suppose it would help if I actually gave you my number.” He held out the small piece of paper, his fingers brushing hers as she took it with a sheepish grin, and… was that a blush?

“Speak to you soon.  _Get some sleep._ ” She pocketed the number, heading to the door.

“You too!” He gave her a little wave as she grinned back over her shoulder. He watched her walk alongside the window and out of sight, before smacking himself in the forehead. _“Idiot..!”_


	18. Northern Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Accompanying commissioned artwork](http://blunaowl.rocks/post/117445403520/northern-lights-art-by-comickergirl-a-few-months) by [](http://comickergirl.tumblr.com>comickergirl</a>%20on%20tumblr.)

A few months before the annual trip to Norway, Tadashi had suggested to Elsa that they travelled out a week before, for a rare holiday abroad. They had spent weeks and weekends alone, outside of San Fransokyo, but had always stayed firmly - and relatively inexpensively - grounded. Tadashi’s suggestion had been a welcome one, but Elsa had been surprised at just how enthusiastic and excited Tadashi had been at her affirmative response. However, her own nerves about flying had distracted her from noticing how nervous Tadashi was becoming, the nearer the holiday loomed.

* * *

“Tadashi, why don’t you go ahead?” Elsa dropped her bag into one of the plastic trays, bumping Tadashi’s ahead of her.

“Huh?”

“Security always takes forever. I have a few… things to explain.”

“Oh… oh! Oh, okay.” Tadashi grinned, moving to stand behind Elsa, his hands on her hips, his voice low, “Hey, if they want a strip search, just tell them I performed one this morning-” He laughed, almost jumping back into another traveller to escape her elbow destined for his ribs.

Elsa chuckled at him, pointing towards the security arch and shoving Tadashi over. “Go on, the guy’s waving you through.”

He walked through, setting the alarm off with his belt, fumbling to remove it as he heard the arch next to him begin to bleep as well. He wandered to collect his bag and chuckled at the completely unimpressed look Elsa threw his way as the young security guard repeatedly waved an x-ray wand over her, before Elsa quietly explained that it  _wasn’t_ broken, and walked to sit down on some nearby chairs. Tadashi sat with her, a cheesy grin on his face.

“Come here often?”

Elsa smirked, unstrapping her prosthetic for the supervisor hovering nearby. “You are such a dork.”

“Your dork.” He flashed an innocent grin, leaning back in his chair, waiting until the supervisor walked back to the x-ray machine, Elsa watching him like a hawk. Tadashi took her hand as gently as he could, and she still jumped, but didn’t look to him. “So this happens every time you fly?”

“Mhmm. Another reason I don’t enjoy it.”

“… this is why you went ahead of the group last time. Under the pretense of having to fill in some paperwork or something.”

“Yep.”

“Hun…-”

“It’s just one of those things, Tadashi. I don’t mind, really. They have to do their thing.”

Tadashi edged closer, leaning to stage whisper in her ear “… this would be a bad time to make a joke about installing something untoward while you were sleeping, wouldn’t it.”

He saw the small tug of Elsa’s cheek as she smiled. “Uh, yes.”

“Not that I would tamper with it, or put explo- ooooh, here we go. That’s..  that’s what I was saying. Yep.” He sat up straight, grinning innocently at the supervisor, who was narrowing his eyes at him, before handing back the prosthetic.

Elsa waved it off, strapping it back on, “Don’t mind him. He’s a dork.”

Tadashi continued flashing his grin, trying to pacify the skeptical man. “Yep! That’s me. Dork extraordinaire.” The supervisor’s piercing stare bore ever deeper into Tadashi, before Elsa took Tadashi by the hand and stood up, pulling him up to grab their bags.

“Come on, you, before someone gets arrested.”

* * *

Their first day in Norway was a lazy one - neither Tadashi nor Elsa were in any hurry to leave their hotel room’s ludicrously comfortable double bed, despite having both slept - even if only a little - on the strategically planned red eye flight. Their plan was to spend a few days in the capital, followed by a few days in Nærøyfjord, before meeting the incoming tourists at the winter sports centre.

Tadashi was determined to find out about more than just the tourist hubs, and Elsa was happy to take him to old haunts and quirky shops that she thought he would appreciate.

She knew the rest of the tour was a lost cause when Tadashi spotted an independently owned electronics store down a side street. He all but flew through the door, already elbow deep in boxes by the time Elsa had followed him in.

“Oh my god…  oh my god… oh wow! Look, Elsa! I’ve been trying to find this type of circuit board forever; they’ve been out of production for years!” He turned his head an inch to the right and wandered off with a gasp of delight.

“Bear in mind, there are only 10 people this time around,” she called after him, unable to see him in the forest of electronics piled, hung and shelved so tightly there was barely an inch of space to spare. “Fewer cases in which to stash your treasures!”

She heard another gleeful noise from deeper within the treasure trove and chuckled at Tadashi, before having a careful look at some of the things dangling nearby. She didn’t have the affinity for robotics that her boyfriend did, but that hadn’t prevented her from learning a thing or two. Quite the contrary - Tadashi’s excited ramblings when he made a breakthrough at college, or more recently at his new job, had meant Elsa had learned various technical terms and even a few lines of code.

The thing she enjoyed most about the subject wasn’t the end result - though Baymax was an undeniably spectacular feat of engineering; it wasn’t the creative process - nor the piles of crumpled blueprints, metal shavings trailed throughout the house and that one spot of grease that  _just wouldn’t budge_  from the carpet in the hall; it was Tadashi’s  _passion_.

Several times, she had been awoken with a whoop of glee, shortly followed by a bone-crushing hug, as Tadashi finally cracked a problem that had plagued him for weeks. Other times, she would haul him away from the computer when she heard the quiet clicks of the keyboard become more angry and heavy handed, let him talk the problem over with her - or at her - until he had a lightbulb moment. His entire manner would switch from frustration to excitement in the blink of an eye, his rambling would speed up, becoming even less coherent as he started bouncing around his small work area in the corner of the living room as he put his idea into action.

He didn’t get frustrated if Elsa didn’t get what he was explaining, instead he would break the problem down into more manageable chunks, draw diagrams out on paper, show her the code or the wiring. Sometimes it helped him as much as it helped her - he sometimes couldn’t see the wood for the trees, paying so much attention to the bigger picture that he would miss details that would make his work less complicated, more efficient, more effective.

As she wandered through the electronics grotto, she spotted a few bits of technology that she knew, some that she had seen Tadashi use, and much more that she was sure Tadashi would empty his suitcase to take home. She picked up a few bits and pieces of her own, insignificant in comparison to the rest of the shop’s wares, parting with a few kroner while Tadashi was engaged in animated and unintelligible conversation with the shopkeeper.

* * *

“So, how are you enjoying Norway, Tadashi?” Gerda straightened out her skirt, having just poured tea for the four of them, before sitting next to Kai, opposite Tadashi and Elsa.

“It’s great. A bit chilly,” Tadashi chuckled, tugging at his ear lobe, “But great. It’s such a beautiful place.”

“Whereabouts have you been?”

“Uhm, well… we were in Oslo for a few days, checked out some of the less touristy corners of the city - there are some amazing little shops around, little cafés, pubs- some of the drinks you guys have here…  _geez_.”

Elsa smirked behind her mug, “Lightweight.”

He continued with a chuckle, “Then we came to Nærøyfjord. Don’t ask me which is better though. They’re both wonderful, just for different reasons.”

In Oslo, he had felt somewhat at home. At a glance, Oslo was totally different to San Fransokyo, but below the surface there were huge similarities. Both cities had the mix of the modern and the traditional. At the heart of the city, technology was deeply ingrained, touchscreens and holograms decorating the high street, the buildings sleek and futuristic. Out in the suburbs, the shops and homes were stylised entirely different - thin, multicoloured buildings, the pointed roofs slowly becoming visible through the brown, red and yellow leaves being shed from the trees lining the streets.

Elsa had shown Tadashi the house in which she and Anna had grown up, no different from how it had looked three years prior. He had wandered around the building, unknowingly taking the same path that a young Elsa would take, with whomever she could convince to go with her into the small forest behind the house to play.

After spending the day in the town, they had ended up at the docks on the edge of the fjord, just in time to catch the sun dipping between the mountains at the mouth of the fjord.

“It was almost as amazing as the sunsets back home, when the cherry blossoms catch the sun just right…” Tadashi broke into a small grin, and Gerda squealed quietly.

“Ooh, Kai, he’s even more adorable in the flesh..!”

* * *

Late evening, on the last day of their holiday, Tadashi and Elsa were walking hand in hand - or rather glove in glove - through the deep snow of the mountains, just as the sun began dipping below the horizon. Tadashi had easily coaxed Elsa into work mode, discussing with her what they would be doing for the next week when the others arrived.

It was only after Tadashi’s third “Uh huh…” to one of Elsa’s questions that she frowned, slowing to a stop. “Tadashi, are you okay?”

“Hmm?”

“… you seem distracted.”

“Oh, I uh… I’m just… amazed by the lights, y’know… look at them, all… colourful and stuff.” Tadashi raised his hand up to the sky as if Elsa didn’t know where to look, and promptly dropped his arm with a cringe when he saw Elsa’s completely unimpressed face. “I… I’m just looking for the perfect spot is all.”

“For what?”

“Elsa, I…” He sighed heavily, pulling his beanie off and running his hand through his hand, before shoving the hat in his pocket and pulling Elsa a short distance up the mountainside. As they reached a slightly flatter area of ground, Tadashi came to a halt, wheeling around and taking both of Elsa’s hands, looking down at the snow beneath their feet.

Elsa opened her mouth to demand he explain what was going on, but the look of pure nervousness on his face made her face and voice soften instantly. Instead, she gave his hands a small squeeze, dipping her head to look at him. “Tadashi, what’s going on?”

Tadashi closed his eyes, before inhaling a lungful of cold, mountain air, trying to calm himself down, hoping the cool air hitting his lungs might somehow put the raging butterflies in his stomach to bed. He felt a slight breeze on his cheek and nose, the air ruffling through his hair. When he opened his eyes he saw Elsa’s staring right back at him, the sapphire blue made all the more deeper and more intense by the low light. Instantly, his head cleared. He straightened up, his shoulders tugging backwards, holding Elsa’s hands firmly in his own.

“Elsa… I know we’ve only known each other for two years, but… I’ve never loved anyone as deeply as I love you. I try to picture me without you, but I  _can’t_. On my 21st birthday, I thought just  _seeing_ you was the best present ever, but being with you… I’m still reeling. Whenever I wake up next to you…  I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not still dreaming.

"I’m in awe of you. And not just because you’re stunningly beautiful, with gorgeous eyes I would happily drown in. You’re strong, independent, passionate, determined- you have a wicked sense of humour and a mischievous streak a mile wide. But spending this week with you… I’ve realised there’s still so much about you that I don’t know, and I want to spend the rest of my life finding out everything there is to know about this  _goddess_ of a woman who puts up with my off-key singing in the shower, and my inability to put a mug in the sink.

“I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you, for whatever you need, whenever you need it. For richer, for poorer, through the good days, and the bad…in sickness and in health. Even it’s just a hug, or someone you can yell at about your day… I will do  _anything_ for you. You give so much of yourself without asking for anything in return, and… I want to try and give you the life that you deserve.”

Elsa’s pounding heart stopped dead when Tadashi let go of her hands, and for a moment she felt so light headed she wondered if she might simply float away on the breeze. She could barely see Tadashi’s now ungloved hands deftly working to unzip a small pocket on his jacket, the tears brimming in her eyes clouding her vision, threatening to roll down her cheeks. She forgot how to breathe when Tadashi got down on one knee, wobbling slightly in the snow, before pulling open a tiny box, revealing a slim white platinum ring, with a small clear diamond, the colours of the aurora refracting onto the snow.

“Elsa Arendelle… will you marry me?”

The mountain top was deathly silent, as Tadashi held his breath in anticipation, and Elsa simply forgot how to breathe. Her knees gave out, and she landed on them with a muffled thump, the shock reverberating through her kickstarting everything - her heart began thumping loudly in her eyes, her shaky breaths hanging in the air, the tears in her eyes finally running down her cheeks.

Her mind finally caught up to the moment, and the cogs started whirring, the ever present voice of doubt rearing its ugly head. Just as she opened her mouth to channel it, Tadashi put a gentle finger to her lips, speaking softly. “Don’t you dare try and give me a reason why I shouldn’t be with you, because I’ll give you a thousand reasons why I want to be.”

Cautiously, he removed his finger from her lips, taking her hand once more, the other still holding the small box in between them. He watched Elsa’s head dip down, desperately hoping that she wouldn’t succumb to her own self-doubt, something that could still quite easily take the reins even after the continuous work they both put in to banish it. But when she looked up, there was no doubt, no fear, no apprehension.

And then she nodded.

“You… yes?”

Elsa took a shaky breath, before nodding again with fierce conviction. “Yes.”

Tadashi instantly leapt up from the snow, running around in circles, screaming at the top of his lungs. As quickly as he had stood up, he slid over again, taking Elsa’s hand with his own trembling hand - trembling through cold, or adrenaline, he didn’t care. He slowly took her hand from her glove, gently sliding the ring onto her finger, silently praising Baymax for his scanning capabilities - a perfect fit.

Both pulled the other into a hug, almost falling over at the force, both laughing from the sudden release of tension. Tadashi buried his face in Elsa’s neck, nuzzling her scarf, before tilting his head to kiss just below her ear, whispering softly. “Aishiteru, itoshii.”

“Jeg elsker deg også, elskling.”

As they separated, Tadashi pressed a kiss to Elsa’s nose, before slipping their gloves back on. As she leaned her head on his shoulder to look up at the lights, she smiled warmly - for the first time in forever, she could look to them not with sorrow, but with pure, unadulterated  _happiness._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT’S A CHEESY ENDING BUT I DON’T CARE. This was all about the fluff. And the commission oh my god. Thank you to the ever-glorious comickergirl for her stellar work in bringing a somewhat vague description of my brain fart to life.
> 
> I’d like to expand on some of the snippets - Tadashi meeting Gerda for example. I’m sure there would be baby photos aplenty, but that’s a whole other fic right there.
> 
> I think Tadashi would have asked Kai for permission too. He’d definitely ask Anna (how in the hell she manages to stay quiet about it is a mystery to everybody), maybe even Kristoff, but Kai’s the closest thing Elsa has to a father, and though it may be buried under a ton of electrical junk, I think he’s a traditionalist at heart.


	19. model!AU One Shot

“Okay, T, let’s do the scooter shots again and then we’ll take five.”

Tadashi climbed sat up on the scooter’s seat, and obediently sat still as the makeup artist applied a few retouches, trying to brush his wayward fringe to the side, before the short black stands fell right back into their previous position. He mocked gasped when the woman mumbled a threat to “chop that damn hair off”, and grinned as she wandered away again.

Straightening his jacket out slightly, he leaned forward to grab the handle bars, following the photographer’s instructions. He’d only been modelling for a few months, after his friend Honey had dragged him along after he had made a comment at college.

_“Sitting around all day, looking off into middle distance? Someone else doing your hair and makeup?” Tadashi chuckled, shaking his head, “Doesn’t sound too difficult to me.”_

Honey had easily goaded Tadashi into coming with her one weekend, taking advantage of his distraction whilst he started his work. Tadashi had originally gone simply to see it from Honey’s point of view, but had almost immediately been roped in when the photographer mistook him for another model. The fee he received for his time was certainly nothing to sniff at - it almost matched what he had already saved for the more expensive pieces of technology for his projects - and he had soon found himself in front of an agent, working part time, and strangely, rather enjoying the experience.

_Especially if there are girls at the shoot…_ Tadashi grinned, his mind wandering, before a sharp voice brought him from his reverie.

“Tadashi! This isn’t a joy ride, come on!”

He schooled his face into a more serious expression, but only a few shots were taken before the entrance to the studio was doing open, and what looked like a second crew started streaming in through the door. Tadashi thought nothing of it, until his own people started objecting to their presence.

When it was obvious the shoot had come to an abrupt halt, Tadashi sat upright on the scooter, watching the scene before him. The two directors started arguing about the apparent double booking, the rest of the newcomers being yelled at to start setting up, even though there was already kit in the way. The crew moved slowly, unwilling to start unpacking if they just had to pack it all back up again.

Tadashi was about to wander over and find out what was going on, when a soft voice with an underlying accent, sounded to his side. “This is the third time this month this had happened. Another ten minutes and he’ll tell us we’re all supposed to be in a studio across the city.”

Tadashi turned his head to the side, his eyes widening at the owner of the voice. He didn’t need to have seen her on a piece of glossy paper to know that the tall blonde beside him was a model. The white of the backdrops and the bright lights surrounding the set made the girl’s platinum hair glow, the stark blue of her eyes made all the more intense by the paleness of her skin. He noticed a slight blush spreading across her cheek, the bridge of her nose - freckles! - and he was positive that she was wearing the bare minimum of makeup. One of her bangs slipped from behind her ear when her head cocked slightly to the side…

_Oh crap, I’m staring. What did she say. What do I say. What._

“Tadashi!” It was more a noise than a word, and the girl blinked.

“Sorry?”

“Tadashi. My name. That’s… that’s me.” He held a hand out to her, his own cheeks beginning to glow with embarrassment at his lack of brain power. He relaxed and tensed at the same time when she took it.

“Hi. I’m Elsa.” She flashed a bemused grin at him, shaking his hand briefly. “Nice to meet you, Tadashi.”

She glanced over to the rabble near the door, the noise level considerably lower than it was before, people sitting on equipment boxes and checking watches. The photographer had wandered back to his spot at the edge of the backdrop, flicking through the images on his camera. He glanced up briefly towards Tadashi, before he snapped his head up, the camera following shortly after. He managed to take a short burst of photographs before Tadashi and Elsa realised.

They turned to look over at him, and he offered no explanation, just taking another burst of photos. He looked through the images, before kissing the camera screen and jogging back to his director, leaving the two confused models hovering by the scooter.

They glanced at each other, before looking after the photographer again, watching him interrupt the ongoing conversation and thrust his camera in front of his boss. The director immediately spun on his heel, negotiations forgotten, making a beeline to Tadashi and Elsa.

He stopped dead in front of them both, raking his eyes over the pair. Tadashi glanced at him, then at Elsa, who was watching the director with a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“Perfect. Perf- you. Miss. What’s your name?” Tadashi bit his lip to stop himself from introducing her like a small child. She’d barely finished the second syllable before the director started talking again, “Elsa, wonderful. What’re they paying you?” He threw a thumb over his shoulder at the muttering gaggle of men and women by the door. This time, Elsa had only opened her mouth before he continued, “Never mind. Whatever they’re paying, I’ll double it. Triple it! Maybe double it.” He grabbed the photographer and pulled him in close, “Look at them! Fabulous!”

Tadashi and Elsa both glanced at each other, bemused and confused at the man’s enthusiasm. Tadashi shrugged at her, unable to offer an explanation. Elsa turned to look over at the group with whom she arrived, and then back to the director. “… double, right?”

The man thrust his hand out to her, “Double. And then we’ll talk contract.” He waited a beat, barely giving Elsa time to think, “You could be one of Benetton’s rising stars-”

“Benetton?”

“Benetton.” He pushed his hand out a little further, waiting. Elsa looked at his outstretched hand, before extending her own and sealing the impromptu deal. “ _Wonderful!_  Andrea!” He clapped his hands together, waving over a young woman. “Outfit! Go!” The young woman looked over Elsa and Tadashi before running off again. The director walked back to the other group, and a fresh new set of arguments began again.

Tadashi turned to Elsa with a chuckle, “Welcome, Elsa.”


	20. 19th Century Tadelsa Randomness

Opening her eyes was a bad idea. _Moving_ was a bad idea. _Someone knock me out again. Just for a bit more._ There was a stabbing pain behind her eyes, and despite what she was sure was a very soft pillow, the back of her head felt like it was being kicked with her beat of her he- **  
**

_Wait… a pillow?_

She opened her eyes again, and groaned quietly as her headache grew to elephantine proportions once more, but refused to allow them to close at the bright light. Which quickly became dim light.

_Someone’s here._

She blinked again, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the new light levels, and made out the outline of someone coming towards her. She assumed it was a woman, given the softness of the voice. “Kon'nichiwa… ogenkidesuka?”

Elsa’s face fell as she realised _just how far_ she had been taken. She had heard the first word once in her entire life, during a meeting her father had made her attend when she was eleven. It had been nothing more than a brief visit by yet another foreign dignitary, and after the greeting, they had continued in English. Elsa had been drilled in a few cultural idiosyncrasies - there was a lot of technicality to something as simple as a bow - but nothing more. She remembered some of the history from her teachers, but it had been so long since she’d been taught… _you don’t have Kai to remind you what not to do, nor do you have a library to bury yourself in and cram. Just… relax._

“Hallo- jeg mener… Kon’nichiwa?”

The next few seconds were a rather loud blur, as the woman in front of her suddenly grinned, clearly happy that Elsa wasn’t mute, and seemingly under the impression that Elsa spoke the same language. “Anata no atama wa dōdesu ka?”

_Oh boy._

“Jeg beklager- I’m sorry, I…” Elsa gave what she hoped was her most apologetic look, shaking her head slightly. Bad idea.

The woman immediately began fussing again, as Elsa ducked her head as if she could shrink away and escape the pain in her head. There was a bit of shouting, presumably the woman was calling for someone, and the slap of bare feet on wood as said someone came running in. She gave a young boy some instructions, before he ran off again. Elsa couldn’t have been more grateful for the silence that followed, until a light tap on her shoulder forced her to open her eyes again.

The woman was holding out a cup, indicating for Elsa to drink it. The younger woman looked at it warily - she had very little reason to assume it was anything but safe. Why nurse someone only to poison them in your own home? The older woman sensed her hesitance, and indicated to the back of her own head, in the same location Elsa was sure a small troll had taken up residence in her own.

Carefully, Elsa pushed herself up slightly, and the older woman braced her slightly to keep her upright, her head exploding with pain. Her eyes closed, she felt the cup against her lips, and obediently took a sip without so much as looking to see what she was drinking. It smelled like bitter earth and tasted even worse, but she continued drinking the lukewarm liquid until the cup was removed. She kept her eyes closed until she was horizontal once again, unwilling to risk throwing up what little she had just consumed.

Just as she began to feel a warm glow emanating from her stomach, she heard footsteps once more - the light, energetic steps from the young boy and a heavier pair, the stride pattern a lot longer. _The woman’s husband, perhaps?_

 _… or an older brother?_ She saw the young boy run into the room, followed closely by a young man, far too young to have been the boy’s father. The younger boy made a comment under his breath, and the older boy raised an eyebrow, before shoving him out of the room. The woman waved him over with a comment that could only have been a “Stop messing around!”, and he stopped by the side of the bed- sofa? Whatever she was lying on. Kneeling beside the woman, they spoke quietly and briefly, with a hand waved in Elsa’s direction.

 _Maybe they’re wondering how to get me back to the kidnappers… I suppose it wouldn’t pay to have damaged cargo._ Elsa squeezed her eyes tight as her headache began pounding again, though slightly dulled by whatever it was she had drunk before. She felt the slight tingle of her magic at her fingertips, but it was miniscule. She probably couldn’t make an ice pack, let alone escape from… wherever she was-

“Hello?”

She snapped her eyes open at the familiar word, her panicked breathing catching in her throat. She looked towards the woman, but her attention was diverted by a waving hand. The young man’s.

“Hello? You speak English?”

A wave of relief crashed over her, joining the warmth of the drink, combining to make her feel like she was resting on a cloud. “ _Yes_.”

The young man grinned, nodding to the older woman, before speaking again, “My name is Tadashi. This is Okāsan. What’s your name?”

Elsa opened her mouth to respond, but something in the back of her head warned her not to divulge too much. What if her kidnappers came looking for her? It probably wouldn’t been too difficult to find an Elsa, ignoring several other markedly obvious differences. Wouldn’t do to make it too obvious though…

“… Joan. My na-” She yawned slightly, the warm feeling now sitting behind her eyes, making the lids heavy. “My name’s Joan… where am… I?”

Tadashi smiled warmly, as Okāsan pulled a cover further up Elsa’s shoulder. “You’re safe.”


	21. So Ro Liten Tull

Teetering on the edge of falling back to blissful unconsciousness, Tadashi’s eyelids were glued together with sleep, his limbs like dead weights. With a contented sigh he turned onto his side, shuffling forward slightly, expecting to come into contact with a warm, cuddly entity.

Still expecting… _still_ expecting…

_Dammit, that’s cold…!_

He lifted his head from the freezing cold pillow, bleary eyes blinded by the empty sheets, even in the dark. The warm, cuddly entity he had planned to wrap his arms around was gone.

Nose wrinkling, he propped himself up on his elbow, scanning the room for Elsa. There were no signs of life, other than the cat laid out on her back, legs splayed, out for the count. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he saw that the sliding door was open ever so slightly, a faint light shining from a room down the hall.

Tadashi turned around again, swinging his legs out from underneath the covers and pushing himself out of bed with a shiver. He grabbed a hoodie from a nearby chair, pulling it over his head just in time to stop himself walking through the thin paper of the door.

Slowly, he made his way down the corridor, bare feet quietly slapping against the floor. After a few steps, the sound of his soles was joined by a softer noise, growing louder with every short stride. Slowing to a crawl, he was finally able to make out the noise, and he could feel his face splitting with the size of his grin.

_“…unger. Stua og koven, løa og låven…”_

He came to a quiet stop at the doorway, leaning against the door jamb, listening to his wife singing their daughter back to sleep. Kari wasn’t really a fussy baby, but she was as bad at holding a normal sleeping pattern than he was. _Haruki was never so troublesome… at night, anway._

He chuckled to himself, and cringed slightly as he heard the singing come to an end. Ever so slowly, he peered through the doorway and was greeted with a sleepy smirk from Elsa, sitting in a chair by the window, eight month old girl bundled in her arms. “Hey,” she whispered, the smirk turning into a warm smile.

He couldn’t help but grin back, rolling himself around the doorframe and entering the room. “Hey. I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.” He crossed the room, his voice just as quiet as Elsa’s, leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head. “Sorry, I know it was my turn to feed her-”

“It’s alright, I’m not the one who’s up for work tomorrow.” She grinned, lifting her head towards him, sitting up ever so slightly to kiss him on the chin.

He caught her with another kiss on the lips before standing up slightly and looking at the scene in front of him. He hadn’t been able to get enough of it when Haruki was a baby, and he couldn’t get enough of it the second time around. He knew the moment wouldn’t last long. Kari would grow to a toddler, a teenager, to looking as beautiful as her mother in no time, and he had to savour these moments as they came.

“…elskling?”

Tadashi’s eyes shifted from bundle to blue eyes, looking between the daughter and the wife he’d almost lost months prior. “Nothing, just… falling asleep standing up.” He grinned innocently, running a hand through his hair. “Do you want me to take over?”

“No, it’s alright. I don’t think she’ll wake now.” The careful handover was automatic, smooth and slick, with Tadashi carefully taking Kari from Elsa’s arms - _Support the head!_  - and placing her into the cot as if she were bone china. He didn’t move an inch from the cot, even when warm arms slinked around his waist, a solid weight resting on his shoulder. He took Elsa’s hands, turning his head slightly to look towards the blonde mess on his shoulder.

“Coming back to bed? It’s chilly without you.”

Elsa’s voice resonated through him, warming his chest, “It’s alright. The cold doesn’t bother me.”

“Yeah, because you’re like a little… portable oven.” He grinned, patting her hands and turning around to face her. “And oven with an amazing voice, I might add… what was that you were singing?”

“ _So ro liten tull._  Uhm… _Sleep in peace, little one_. Just a little lullaby.” Elsa’s nose and cheeks were warmed by Tadashi’s compliment, a reaction he loved to elicit.

Tadashi’s bottom lip shot out, the corners of his mouth downturned. “You never sing _me_ lullabies.” He leaned down as Elsa chuckled, kissing her on her forehead. “Come on. Come and put me to bed.” He ran his hand down her arms, taking both her hands and leading her towards the door, looking back towards the cot and his precious daughter with a warm smile.

_I love you, Kari…_

_… but_ please  _sleep through the night soon._


	22. Prompt: A sees B shirtless for the first time...

Anna didn’t realize until it was too late. She and Kristoff had been playing computer games for _hours_. She was kicking his butt in Mario Kart, and hadn’t planned on letting her winning streak come to an end. She hadn’t eaten, she hadn’t peed…

… she hadn’t realised that Tadashi had turned up almost an hour early, and that perhaps letting him use the bathroom when her sister was still in the bath  _wasn’t_  a very good idea.

* * *

Sure, the cold never bothered her, but even Elsa couldn’t resist having a long soak in a luxuriously warm and soapy bath on occasion. Today was certainly one of those occasions. She was headed out to dinner with Tadashi in an hour, and she wanted to remove every single trace of her _long_ Saturday at work. She peeled an eye open, glancing at the small clock on the wall. One hour left. Plenty of time to rinse off, sort out her hair, agonize over what to wear until Tadashi’s arrival forced her to make her decision…

_Totally worth it._

She grinned slightly to herself, stretching slightly before sitting up and grabbing her pouf to rinse off the last of the suds. She heard footsteps in the corridor, wondering which of the gaming pair had finally peeled themselves from the sofa. Elsa smirked at the soft, but heavy thuds.  _Sounds like Kristoff. Finally had enough of losing._

It took less than a second for the door to open, nowhere near enough time for her to open her mouth. The lock was broken, but it was only the three of them. It didn’t matter, they knew each other’s routines. Besides, she’d told them both she was having a bath.

_Oh shi-_

* * *

Tadashi forgot how to move. He needed to move. He needed to leave. He needed to get his hand off the damn handle and get out the damn doorway and stop looking at… at the _damn hot_  blonde in the bath.

Elsa couldn’t move either. Thankfully, she’d had the pouf against her chest, but now the suds were falling away, bubble by bubble. She wanted to sink underneath the water and never emerge, but she simply could not make her body work.

_“Tadashi!”_

Anna’s voice rang through the apartment, followed by the thundering of footsteps. Within a few seconds, Anna had rugby tackled Tadashi out of the doorway, audibly knocking the wind from his lungs as they flew several feet down the hall. The sudden movement dragged Elsa back to reality, and she slipped down into the bath, hiding beneath the few remaining bubbles.

A hand appeared in the doorway after a moment, followed by the top of Anna’s head. Her eyes gave away the massive grin she was clearly wearing and Elsa heard a muffled “Sorry…!” as she slowly closed the door.

* * *

“I… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to, uh- oh _god_ …”

“Shut up, Tadashi.” Anna couldn’t help but smirk. He was stood there staring into space, beetroot red, hands against his cheeks. “No harm done.”

He turned towards her, his voice a low hiss, “ _Are you kidding?_  She was… she-”

“What, you’ve never seen a naked girl before?” Anna chuckled, pulling him away out of the hall and into the living room. Kristoff was still sat on the sofa, and has he turned to look at them, he gave him a look of utter sympathy and understanding.

“No, i- it’s… it’s not that, I just-” He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, letting out a slightly frustrated groan, “It’s _Elsa_ , we… I didn’t want to… it’s been like…”

“It’s only your third date?” Kristoff suggested.

“It’s only yo- _our_  third date!” Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck, the redness of his cheeks not helped by all the frantic face rubbing. “I should go. I turned up too early, I screwed up _big time-”_

“Don’t go.” The voice was rather quiet, and certainly didn’t come from Anna or Kristoff. Tadashi turned towards it, before immediately dropping his eyes to stare at the floor. He couldn’t help his peripheral vision…

Elsa was halfway in, halfway out of the bathroom, shoulders bare, towel wrapped around her, wet hair loosely wrapped in another towel. “I’ll… I won’t be long.” She paused briefly before shuffling out of the bathroom towards her own room, further along the corridor. Tadashi’s eyes followed her until she was out of sight, and didn’t realise how fast his heart was beating until the door closed behind her. A sharp slap to the arm brought him back to reality.

“See? No harm done.” Anna chuckled, heading back to her spot on the sofa. “Just knock next time, huh?”


	23. Prompt: The short one tries to kiss the tall one…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> that-pisces-dude:  
> Couple aesthetic: the short one tries to kiss the tall one,but they can’t reach up; so they gently stand on their toes,take the tall one’s neck  
> And DRAGS THE MOTHERFUCKER DOWN.  
> IF I CAN’T GO UP,YOU’RE GOING DOWN WITH ME  
> \---  
> hathor-frozen:  
> I can totally see Elsa doing this with Tadashi, right, @blunaowl? :D

Elsa turned to lock the door behind her, before a quiet voice came from the stairs, “Don’t worry about that, sweetie, there’re only a few minutes left.”

Aunt Cass hopped off the last step, chirpy as always, flipping the switch on the coffee machine before making her way over to the front door. Elsa was greeted with a warm smile as she turned around, pocketing her key and tucking a loose bang behind her ear. “He’s not awake yet,” said Aunt Cass, as she linked her arm with Elsa’s, leading her towards the coffee bar, “My fault, we stayed up watching ice hockey. Neither of them went to bed until fairly late.” Aunt Cass steered Elsa towards one of the chairs in front of the bar, uncoupling her arm and resting it gently on her back, “Plenty of time for a cuppa, hey?”

Elsa smiled gratefully, her “thank you” swallowed up in a yawn. Aunt Cass took that as her cue to start brewing, rounding the coffee bar, grabbing a milk jug with one hand, the milk with the other, pouring out _just_  the right amount whilst turning round to kick the fridge door closed, steaming milk, grabbing cups, fetching marshmallows, her morning routine in full swing. Within a matter of seconds, she had poured out Elsa’s mocha, marshmallows littering the perfectly smooth, chocolate dusted milk. Carefully placing it in front of the dozing nurse, she took Elsa’s hand and shook it gently, “Elsa, sweetie?”

It only took a moment for Aunt Cass and the scent of coffee to rouse Elsa from the brink of glorious sleep, and she straightened up slightly, giving the older woman an apologetic smile, “Sorry.”

“Why don’t you sit up in the living room for a little while? Before you go see Tadashi?” Aunt Cass turned the mug’s handle towards Elsa and watched as she lifted the mug to just below her nose and inhaled deeply.

Before she responded, Elsa took a long sip of the life saving liquid, making sure to take up a few of the tiny marshmallows. After savouring the taste for a moment, hoping the caffeine would find any and all of the little blood vessels and start recharging her, she allowed the liquid to continue on, warming her in a way that only Aunt Cass’ coffee could. “… thank you.”

Aunt Cass chuckled, pushing herself up from the counter and wiping it habitually. “You’re welcome. Now, why don’t you go and sit up on the sofa until Tadashi’s awake?”

“No, I… I should head up there. He’s such an early bird, I’m sure he’ll be awake soon enough.” Elsa shouldered her bag again, taking another long sip of the coffee before slipping off the stool. Aunt Cass didn’t bother trying to talk her out of it - she’d tried many times before and it had never made a difference. Instead, she dropped another few marshmallows into the coffee and shook her head as Elsa made her way up to the boys’ bedroom.

Elsa gave Mochi’s head a quick scratch as his head appeared around the corner at the top of the stairs, before downing the rest of the scalding hot coffee and placing the cup in the sink to wash later. She then made her way up to the upper bedroom, moving carefully, stopping when her eyes were level with the top step. She could see Hiro splayed out on his bed, out like a light, snoring away. With each exhale, the hair flopped over his face flapped about slightly, and she thought she could see the glistening of drool. She smiled, the sight eerily reminiscent of Anna in the mornings.

Satisfied he was sleeping deeply enough that an earthquake wouldn’t rouse him, she made up way up the last few steps, leaving her bag to the side. Tadashi’s “door” was halfway open, and Elsa stood in the gap, watching his chest rise and fall with each slumbering breath. The pink, raw looking, but slowly healing skin on his chest and rising up his neck, was the only outward reminder of previous events. But Elsa knew that underneath the surface, his body was still far from recovered. It had been a few weeks since he had been released from hospital, after the explosion at SFIT that could have killed him if it weren’t for the remainders of Hiro’s experiment shielding him from the worst of the blast.

He’d been thrown several feet at least, bruising his spine, as well as other things, leaving him unable to walk. _Temporarily_. He was stoically making his way through physiotherapy, with the help of his brother and friends from college. Elsa was desperate to be there with him, but the curse of the night shift was continuing to haunt her, and she’d already pulled all the strings she could to spend time with him whilst he was in the hospital. For now, the best she could do was visit him in the mornings after work, something she’d been unable to do for the past three days.

Feeling as though she might fall asleep standing up if she watched Tadashi’s rhythmic breathing any longer, Elsa quietly made her way over to the wheelchair parked next to the bed, sitting down to watch over him. She could no longer make out the faint lines of scars, or the bruises that had marred his once unblemished skin, but she knew exactly where all of them had been, how badly he had looked the evening he had been wheeled into the ER, sights and smells that still plagued her at night like nothing before.

She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to shake the images that had reared their ugly head, and focused on him now. He was getting better. He was making progress. He was _alive._

She found herself watching his chest once more, rising and falling as he slept. Rising and falling. Rising… and falling… rising…

“Elsa? Elsa…” Her leg was wobbling, and she opened her eyes to see a hand upon her knee, gently shaking her awake. She followed the bare arm upwards to see Tadashi’s face, the concern in his eyes apparent even behind heavy lids. “Hey… tough shift?”

“Huh? Oh… uh, no,” Elsa squeezed her eyes shut briefly, tucking the bang shaken loose by her head shake back behind her ear. “No, I… it was okay. Nothing special.”

“Then why so glum?” Tadashi gingerly pushed himself up in the bed, catching Elsa’s hand and giving it a squeeze, rather than allowing her to help him sit up. After a moment he sunk into his new position, taking a moment to calm his breathing. He waited another moment for Elsa to respond, and gave her hand another squeeze when she didn’t, “What’s wrong?”

She looked at their linked hands, running her thumb over the marred skin, the faded bruises left by hospital intervention… “Nothing, I just…”

When she finally met Tadashi’s eyes again, his image was blurred by tears and she noticed a minute trace of blood from where her teeth met her bottom lip. With a sniff, and a failed attempt to swallow away the lump in her throat, Elsa forced a smile to her face, “… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Heeey, none of that.” Tadashi tugged on her hand gently when she looked away again, unwilling to let Elsa bottle up whatever it was she about to bottle up, _probably for my benefit. Or at least she thinks so._  “I’m glad I’m okay too. Very glad. And I have _you_ to thank for that.”

Elsa opened her mouth to shift the credit to her colleagues, and not for the first time. Tadashi beat her to the punch, “None of your workmates come home with you and help me, do they? Plus, there’s more to being okay than just being in one piece physically.” Tadashi smiled warmly as he saw his words sinking in, “And I know for a fact I’d far rather be nursed back to health by you. You give the best hugs, and you know it. Hmm?” The corner of Elsa’s mouth flickered slightly, and Tadashi kept prodding - literally.

Tadashi poked Elsa in the stomach gently, before adjusting his arm to lazily run the back of his hand over her waist, “I don’t know how I can pay you back for all of this. I-”

“You don’t have to,” Elsa took his hand in hers, looking deeply into his eyes, “You never have to. Just… don’t do it again.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Thrice. Or was that the fourth time?” He flashed her a cheeky grin, causing her to chuckle once, shaking her head. An overly dramatic “Hmm,” brought Elsa’s attention back to him.

“’Hmm’?”

“There’s something, just-” Tadashi beckoned Elsa closer to him, hiding his smirk at her concerned, and somewhat alarmed expression, as she clearly tried to figure out whether or not she’d grown a second head. Tadashi was swift, and as soon as Elsa was comfortably within arm’s reach he slipped a hand up to her neck, pulling her down into a lingering kiss. Only when the awkward position became too uncomfortable for Elsa did they break apart, Tadashi’s hidden smirk transformed into a goofy grin. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“Dork.”

“Your dork. Who has missed you entirely too much.” Tadashi carefully shifted over in the bed, flinging the light duvet aside as an invitation. One that Elsa happily accepted, kicking off her trainers, pulling off her hoodie, and lying down beside Tadashi, warily resting her head on his chest. After a moment’s cautious hesitation, Tadashi wrapped his arm around Elsa, pulling her closer, feeling the weight of her head upon his chest slowly increase as she began to relax and drift off. Despite his body’s minor protests, it was a pleasant weight, warm and cosy, especially with the soft padding that was her hair. He smiled contentedly; the weight meant she was there.

He felt better already.


	24. #OTP Prompt: Impromptu Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> likehemmins: "imagine that you’ve been stood up by your douche of a boyfriend on date night and the waitress keeps asking if you’re ready to order but you keep asking for more time hoping that he’s just late. people are starting to look at you with those apologetic looks like they know and you start to feel worse and worse about the whole situation but as you decide to just get up and leave, this boy you’ve never seen sits down explaining loudly “sorry i’m so late, babe, traffic is crazy right now.” and he quietly adds, “i’m —–. just go with it, yeah? whoever didn’t bother to show up is a dick.” and so you do go with it because he’s being sweet and trying to save you (and plus he’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen) and as you’re leaving the restaurant after the best non-planned date ever, he asks you out for real this time."

_Anna said this would happen. Kristoff said- they_ all _said this would happen._

Elsa nervously toyed with the clasp of her watch once more, trying not to look at it for the umpteenth time. And failing.

_Just five more minutes. Then I’ll leave._ She’d already been sat waiting for Hans a full twenty-five minutes, what harm would another five minutes make?

“Ma’am?” Elsa looked up from her torment to meet the increasingly apologetic gaze of the waitress. She plastered on the same small smile she’d shown the last three times the young girl had stopped by her table.

“Ma’am, are you ready to order?”

“Uh, no thanks, could you uhm…”

“Five more minutes?”

“… five more minutes.”

The waitress nodded, simply refilling Elsa’s glass of water and walking to her next table. Elsa’s gaze followed her for a moment, before falling back to her watch. She couldn’t help but catch the gaze of the couple at said table, and the apologetic smile of the woman, before she leaned in and muttered something to her date. Partner. Husband, whatever.

At least _he_ had shown up.

She felt like she might cry, the small lump that had lodged itself in the back of her throat slowly growing, ever since she first realised she was the talking point of the restaurant window seating area. She looked back at her watch and watched as the minute hand slowly crept towards the 12.

Hans was now officially thirty minutes late.

A month ago, she’d made this reservation. She’d rearranged her studies, her work, _time with her sister_ to get this night off, and her boyfriend had managed to render it all for naught in less time than he took getting ready in the morning, and the worst part about it all?

She wasn’t in the least bit surprised.

Not that that explained why she repeatedly made that kind of effort for him, why she would spend her evenings being paraded around at various cheese and wine social events purely for his benefit. Maybe she should do as her sister kept asking, telling, _pleading_  her.

_Just dump him, Els’, he’s not worth it!_

… at the very least, his five minutes were up. She could head towards the bathroom, then make her way outside. Surely she’d had enough glasses of water for a bathroom break to seem plausible to the tables around her right?

She pocketed her phone after one last check of the time. No sense in leaving if the time on her watch was wrong, right? Sadly, it was still just gone 8pm, and Hans _still_  hadn’t returned her messages. Staring briefly at the table, at the untouched, beautifully laid table, she took one last sip of her water before-

“Hun, I am _so sorry_ I’m so late, traffic is _crazy_ right now,”

She stopped dead, her hands supporting her as her rise from the chair was suddenly halted by the arrival of a black haired, brown eyed young man, with what looked like a baseball cap screwed up in his hand. She was sure that his blazer was the only reason he’d been let in the door, his t-shirt and slacks not exactly in keeping with the rest of the establishment.

Not that it made him look any less gorgeous.

“Hi, I’m Tadashi,” he muttered into her ear, as he rounded the table to push Elsa’s chair back in, “Go with it, yeah? Whoever didn’t bother to show up is a dick.” She watched as he moved back round to the other side of the table, throwing a warning glare through the window to something, or someone outside. By the time she had followed his gaze, all she saw were the backs of a small group of people headed into town, accompanied by a much younger boy. Her attention was drawn back towards her surprise… date? as he cleared his throat, “So, did you already order?”

It took her a moment to realise to whom he was speaking, “Oh, I… no. Not yet, I… I didn’t want to order before you got here.” She had to hide the small smirk from her face and the amusement in her voice, at just how _utterly bizarre_ the situation was. “I… didn’t think you were going to show up.”

“I’m really sorry,” his voice was low, matching the volume of hers. He placed a hand beside her on the table, leaving just enough space that from the nearby tables, they probably looked as though they were touching, "And if you want to head off, I understand. I’ll get you a cab. But… I’m here now.” There was a slight emphasis on the _I’m,_ a veiled dig at whomever’s spot he was occupying.

There was a moment’s silence after his offer of an escape route. This perfect stranger had appeared, rescuing her from yet another moment of public embarrassment. Did she stay, enjoy a nice meal in the company of someone who - at least so far - seemed like a genuinely nice human being, or did she go? Take a cab back to her empty house, eat a sandwich with some sad looking lettuce leaves in it and spend the night moping, only to be greeted by Hans the following morning with a store-bought apology in one hand and his junk in the other?

“Ma’am? Sir?”

Elsa looked up to the voice, and found the waitress once again stood with her pad and stubby pen in hand, “Are you ready to order?”

Elsa’s gaze dropped to the pad, before catching Tadashi’s own, his finger resting against an item on the menu.

“… yes. I think we are.”


	25. Sentence Prompt: "They're Just Like You."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prompt sent by an anon on tumblr. Set in Snowboarding!AU because I'm a horrible, horrible person.

“She’s just like you.” **  
**

Her father would frequently compare Elsa to her mother, especially when she hit her teens. She had slowly turned into Idunn’s clone, their hair the only truly distinguishing feature. Even their voices were similar - her father had to be very careful when trying to work out who had answered the phone. Not that Idunn didn’t have cause to throw the words back at Agdar from time to time, particularly when her stubborn streak reared its head. Her mother always had the last word though, thanks to years of practice with her equally stubborn husband.

For a long while though, she didn’t hear it. Not the proud, and also somewhat smug tone of her father’s voice, to the “I told you so,” lilt of her mother’s. Sure, she occasionally got a “You’re just like your mother,” or a, “You’re just like your father,” but it wasn’t the same somehow.

She had to wait years for that.

“He’s just like you,” Tadashi chuckled quietly, after finally putting their son to bed. “He’ll sleep through anything, but actually getting him to _fall_ asleep is an impossible task.” He took his seat on the sofa once more, throwing an arm around Elsa and pulling her back to rest against her chest, looking at, but not really watching whatever it was on TV. She would always smirk at his complaints about her sleeping habits. He was a _fine_ one to talk, getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning because something came up to him in a dream. She never used to be able to sleep through anything - living with Tadashi made it a necessary skill.

“She’s… Els, she’s just like you,” the fear in his voice was tangible, and would be something she would dream of for years to come, dreams neither of them would sleep through. Strung out on anaesthetics, painkillers and enough seizure meds she didn’t think she’d be lifting her _little finger_ any time soon, she just about made out the voice of Tadashi, muffled as it was behind a surgical mask, “She’s adorable, she’s… god, she looks just like you.” His voice quieted, fear turning to panic, as he pleaded with her, “Please… please don’t leave me to see you in her. _Please, iitoshi._ ” Hearing’s the last thing to go, so They say, and as her husband’s terrified voice began to fade, the last thing she could do, in her own head and therefore to no one in particular, was apologise for the puppy dog eyes.

Thankfully, she discovered that hearing was also the first thing to come back, and as she slowly returned to Planet Ow-Everything- _Really_ -Hurts, she couldn’t help but smile as she listened to Tadashi describing his new daughter, a little too impatient for her - and her mother’s - own good.

“She’s just like you.”

She looked between the small bundle in her lap, and the equally small bundle in Tadashi’s, tears forming in her eyes. She looked up at Kari in the bed, her husband sat beside her, passed out and silently snoring after two days of running around after wife and twins. Kristoff had passed through earlier, given the man a “With Sympathy” card and a bag of Deathwish coffee, much to Anna’s chagrin. Haruki and Co. would pick everyone up later on, now that Tadashi had reverted back to his scooter, in something that was Definitely Not A Midlife Crisis.

“They’re brand new, mom,” Kari muttered, still not fully comprehending the fact that the “brand new” things were her very own children, despite just under 9 months of back pain and heartburn, “All babies look like that.”

“Nah, you were a spitting image of your mom from day one,” Tadashi grinned, cooing gently at the younger of the two granddaughters. “Apart from the eyes, though I’m not sure having blue puppy dog eyes would have been any better than brown ones.” Kari rolled her eyes at her dad, causing him to chuckle and shake his head at the similarity.

When the bundle in his arms stirred again, looking for something he was unable to provide, he stood up, gently transferring her into her mother’s waiting arms. A small cry was all it took for the father to start awake, and Elsa decided to take Tadashi’s lead, and leave the new family be for now. Passing the other, thankfully still sleeping infant into her father’s arms, she gave him a hug goodbye, before turning to Kari. Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to her grown daughter’s forehead.

“They’re _just_ like you. And I’m _so_ proud.”


	26. #OTP Prompt: "Your parking meter is on 3 seconds..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Your parking meter is on literally 3 seconds left so I’ll just pop in a quarter or two for you and oh look you’re here already, looks like I wasted the quarters on an extremely attractive person” AU

“Elsa, what are you doing?”

“It… look, the time’s almost up, I feel bad just walking past it,” she replied, digging around in her bag for some loose change. With a quiet whoop of triumph, she pulled out a couple of quarters and slotted them into the machine, looking rather pleased with herself when the time shot up, with only a few seconds to spare.

Anna smirked, “Happy now? You’ve done your good deed… for the day…”

Elsa’s grin became a frown as her sister began indicating something with her hand, but she couldn’t make out what. After a couple of vague spinning motions, a staged throat clearance caused Elsa to spin slightly, and spin on her heel. “Oh!”

“Hi.”

Elsa looked either side of the young man stood in front of her, wondering briefly who he was talking to. _Duh, he’s talking to_ you. She raised her eyes to meet his again, “Hi.”

The man cleared his throat again, filling the momentary silence between them, before rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand, “I uh… I tried to catch you before you put the uh… the money in the meter, but…” His hand ran up into his jet black hair for a moment, his train of thought somewhat derailed by Elsa’s gaze.

“Oh… oh! Oh, that’s… that’s yours?” She pointed to the small scooter in the parking bay, before she caught sight of the helmet in his hand, “It… it was running out of time, I thought… you know, an extra half an hour would be useful for… for whoever was… well, you.”

A quiet snort sounded from behind her, as Anna tried desperately not to laugh out loud at just how awkward the situation was. Elsa would’ve glared at her if she had been able to tear her eyes away from those of the man in front of her.

“Well… thank you, but you really didn’t need to. Uhm… let me… wait-” he shoved a hand into his pocket, rummaging around for change to pay her back. He grumbled to himself as he came up empty, “I’m sorry, I… I don’t have-”

“Don’t worry about it, really-”

“No, I want to-”

With a theatrical cough, Anna caught the man’s attention, before nodding towards the café they were stood outside. When she knew he’d gotten the message, she made a show of “answering” her phone, before sauntering a little ways up the road, speaking in loud tones to someone called Kristoff.

The man’s attention was quickly back to the blonde in front of him. “-couple of quarters, don’t worry about it.”

“Coffee?”

“… huh?”

“I mean… I’ve got an extra half hour now so… coffee?”

Elsa glanced quickly behind her, and saw Anna animatedly conversing with someone on the phone - probably Kristoff judging by the grin on her face - and knew she would be a while… maybe half an hour or so…

“… okay.”


	27. Prompt: Why does dad text mom like they've never met?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on a tweet and the accompanying screenshot: "Why does my dad text my mom like he's sliding into her DMs for the first time".
> 
> I own nothing and no one. Except for Kari. She's mine.

“Mom, your phone went off again.”

Elsa clambered down the small ladder, hand outstretched to pick her phone up from the table. Just before she made contact, she scrunched up her nose, wiping her paint covered hand on her overalls, but the deep red refused to budge. “Uh, Kari? Can you…” She held her hands up, fingers wiggling in explanation.

Her daughter chuckled, picking up the phone and putting a refilled cup of coffee in it’s place. “It’s dad,” she stated, tapping on the message preview and waiting for it to load.

“Let me guess, he’ll be home late again.”

“I… uh…” Kari gave up trying to explain, simply holding the phone out towards her mother so she could see. “Whatever time he’s coming home, I’m not sure I want to be here when he gets back.”

Elsa spluttered, trying not to inhale her coffee whilst laughing at her husband’s message. He was topless, his shirt dangling behind him from his finger. The only other things he wore above the waist were a pair of  _huge_  safety googles, and a ridiculously cheesy grin, as he looked up at the camera he held in his left hand. Below the picture, there was the second message.

_“Hey babe.”_

“Mo-oom…” Kari looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “Whenever you’re done staring, do you… want me to reply?” Her nose scrunched up, not sure why she just volunteered to be the middle-girl for her parents’ conversation.

“Tell him he’s crazy.”

In a split second, Kari had the message typed out and sent. She watched the corner of the screen, waiting for the conversation bubble to appear, while Elsa leaned against the ladder with a silly grin, sipping her coffee. It was obvious when Tadashi had replied; the tween let out a slightly disconcerted noise before she held the phone out to Elsa again.

_“For you.”_

Elsa grinned harder, and was about to ask Kari to type out another message until the girl put her own phone to her ear. “Hei, Auntie Anna!… fine, fine. Listen, can I stay at your place tonight? Ple- …  _thank you.”_


	28. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because who doesn't enjoy some quick fire embarrassment? That, and the occasional reminder that fluff does exist in the Tadelsa fandom.

Kristoff glanced at his watch again, leaning against the front door of the café. Eugene was peering in through the glass, as were another couple of customers who had turned up a few minutes before the hour.

“I think I can see  _someone_  moving, I just can’t see who.” Eugene frowned, checking his phone, peering, checking his phone, peering, checking his phone- “You think something’s happened in there?”

Kristoff shrugged, trying to act nonchalant but was inwardly concerned, “Maybe Cass overslept. I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“That’s what you said ten minutes ago.”

Kristoff paused for a moment, before pushing off the doorjamb. He casually wandered a little way up the street, considering heading up to the front door of the Hamada home, stopping when he heard a mumbled, “Finally!” from one of the other patrons. Wandering back to the front door, he caught sight of a flustered Tadashi, fumbling with the keys to the café door and calling apologies through the glass.

Kristoff frowned – where was Aunt Cass? By the time he’d reached the door, the regulars had already made their way to the counter, Tadashi jogging his way round the counter to start churning out the orders. He made quick work of the first few orders, only daring to take a breath when he reached Kristoff and Eugene, the only two left in line. “What can I get you?”

“Everything alright, buddy?” Kristoff hadn’t quite expected a chuckle in response, but at least it sounded jovial rather than manic.

“Yeah, yeah, I uh… I completely forgot I was covering for Aunt Cass this morning, got up a little later than I probably should have…” Tadashi shrugged apologetically, wiping down the counter and slinging the tea towel over his shoulder.

Eugene smirked, “Heavy night last night, huh?”

Tadashi shook his head, “Nope, just… a late night.” He couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smirk from creeping onto his face, which only served to pique Kristoff and Eugene’s interest.

“… okay,” Eugene began, tapping Kristoff on the arm, “it’s been five seconds and he’s not launched into tech talk – he couldn’t have been working on that nurse-bot of his.”

Kristoff hummed in agreement, looking at Tadashi curiously. Eugene narrowed his eyes further, “And I don’t see any blood, so you obviously didn’t end up in the middle of a bot fight rescuing your brother.”

Tadashi said nothing. He just shook his head, absenting wiping down the counter again, grinning to himself. Kristoff narrowed his eyes, drawing his own conclusion, “So… is Hiro helping you out while Cass is off?”

“Huh? Oh, no, he’s off at some comicon with Fred, they’re away for a couple more days.”

“Aah.” Kristoff nodded, waiting a moment to let Tadashi zone out again, before casually asking, “So how’s Elsa?”

“Well, she was a little worried she was gonna be late for work, bu-“ Tadashi stopped wiping the counter, dropping his head forward and closing his eyes. “ _Damn you,_  Kristoff.”

Kristoff laughed, his conclusion confirmed. Eugene quickly realised what had happened, and leaned over the counter to slap Tadashi on the shoulder, “Ha! While the cat’s away, huh?”

 _“Sssh!”_  Tadashi hissed at him, looking rather panicked, “Dude, keep it down…!”

Eugene frowned, glancing at Kristoff, “What?”

Tadashi relaxed a little when he saw that the previous customers had already left, remembering that he’d only made coffees to go so far. “I told her I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this- you can’t. Say. _Anything_.”

“Tadashi, don’t worry,” Kristoff chuckled – he was going for reassuring, but his friend’s panic was so out of character he couldn’t help it – “your secret’s safe with us.”

“Until that daft grin on your face gives you away, that is.”

Tadashi tugged on his ear, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He was rather grateful when Eugene excused himself so he wouldn’t be late for work himself, with a further promise not to say anything to  _anyone_ … until he realised he was alone with the man who was essentially Elsa’s big brother. At least in build.

 _Especially_ in build.

“Listen, Kristoff, I… it just-“

“Tadashi, buddy. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Like… you  _really_  don’t have to explain yourself.” He didn’t need that level of detail-  _any_  details about the previous evening.

Well… maybe one or two.

_…_

_Anna’s a bad influence._

Kristoff stepped aside when a couple of customers appeared, making himself comfortable on a stool in front of the counter while Tadashi worked. He was grateful for the coffee brought over for him, but smirked at his friend, “I think you need that more than me.”

“Nope,” he replied, holding up his own mug, “I’m good.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be wearing that grin for a long while.” He laughed at Tadashi’s groan; he’d never seen the guy so flustered, “Why are you so embarrassed? I can’t blame you for being a little… head over heels.”

“Head over heels, over the moon, on cloud nine…” Tadashi took a swig of his coffee, leaning against the counter and watching the thin layer of froth settling in the mug. He was sure the roles were supposed to be reversed – wasn’t the patron supposed to open up to the barkeep? … barista?

“I just… for months, we’ve not spoken about it, we’ve always stopped before it got that far and now… I’m grinning like an idiot because it was all so… natural, and amazing and-“ Tadashi cringed, holding a hand up apologetically, “Oh man, I’m sorry, I’m sure you don’t want to hear  _any_  of this.”

“Buddy, you know me. If Elsa’s happy, I’m happy. If you’re happy, that’s a bonus. And not to say I  _told_  you so,” he began, smirking slightly, “but I  _vaguely_ remember telling you  _several_  times you didn’t have to worry, that it would happen when it happened.”

Tadashi chuckled, tugging on his earlobe, “I know, I know… thanks, man.” He was sure Elsa would have run a mile by this point if not for Kristoff’s words of wisdom.

“No problem.” Kristoff gulped down the rest of the coffee, ignoring the burn in his throat, but conscious of the time. “I mean… if Elsa’s wearing a dumb grin too,  _then_  there’s no problem.”

Tadashi slowly retrieved the mug from in front of him, and was sure he should have looked more terrified of Kristoff’s serious face, but couldn’t help but continuing grinning like an idiot. “Noted.”

* * *

Anna wondered if it were physically possible for Elsa to be late for anything, uncharacteristic night out notwithstanding. Peering from her hiding spot in the nearby seating area, Anna grinned as she saw her sister make her way through the lobby.  _Swipe in, say hi to the guys at the desk, grab class list for the day, head to the changing rooms._ She was  _so_ predictable.

Following a safe distance behind her, she couldn’t help but smirk at Elsa’s slightly dishevelled appearance – clearly, she’d only been on time by the skin of her teeth. She caught the door to the changing room before it closed completely, pushing it open slowly, checking to see if the coast was clear. She threw a finger up to her lips as her friend Megan pulled the door open on her way out, stopping her greeting in her tracks. With a silent wave and bemused grin, Megan left the changing room, leaving Elsa and Anna alone.

Anna stepped in, allowing the door to close behind her. Grinning, the quietly made her way over to her sister, and was almost right in her ear when she thrust out a bundle she’d pulled from her backpack. “I thought you might want a change of clothes.”

Elsa span around with a yelp, taking a step back and into the locker. Anna tried to look apologetic, but couldn’t do anything other than grin like a fool.

Taking a moment to calm her breathing, Elsa looked down at the small bundle, realising it was a fresh top and underwear. “Uh… thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Anna handed them over before she moved to stand alongside Elsa, leaning against the locker. Elsa turned back, hanging her jacket up and rummaging in her bag to pull out her warm work clothes, but Anna’s gaze was  _burning a hole in the side of her face and-_

“So, what did  _you_  get up to last night?”

 _FINALL- wait…_  Elsa stopped dead momentarily, before closing the locker, clothes in hand, “Uhm… y’know… stuff.”

Anna’s grin grew so huge she thought her face might split in two, as cliché as that sounded. Her cheeks started to hurt when she saw Elsa start blushing, and she couldn’t help herself, “Stuff,  _‘ey_?”

“ _Anna_ …” Elsa’s cheeks were on fire, and she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one else had entered the changing room. She knew she had no reason to feel as embarrassed as she did. She was an adult, she could spend her evenings doing whatever she wanted to… with whomever she wanted to.

“Okay, okay,” Anna relented, aware that Elsa was now teetering between “uncomfortable” and “I will  _physically_  leave this conversation”. She leaned back against the locker, but tilted her head curiously at her sister. “But…” she ignored Elsa’s pleading look,  _needing_  to be sure, “… but you’re okay, right? You enjoyed yourself?”

Elsa turned back to close the locker, her hand lingering against the cool metal. Anna waited patiently, becoming a little worried when her sister didn’t say anything, but was  _immensely_ reassured by the dopey grin slowly emerging on Elsa’s face, as she bit her lip and looked down to the floor. The blush was back with a vengeance, and Anna pushed away from the lockers, slugging Elsa in the arm with sisterly approval.

“If anyone asks, just say you fell over on the ice rink and landed on your tailbone.” Anna smirked, moving conveniently out of arm’s length when she explained, “You know, if you’re walking a bit funny this morning-“

_“Anna!”_


End file.
